Whale of A 'Purpose'

1-25-2012 Just How Close Are They?

2012-01-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, January 25th
...this post begins with an unusual image...and morphs into talking about the closeness of the Southern Resident Endangered orcas...

...reviewing pictures from last season I came across this image......what are we seeing here?...all the same whale or more than one?...what does it look like to you?......ah-ha - someone's tail flukes......and if you look back at the first picture you'll see there is another whale there... ...that got me thinking about the closeness of these whales...how they travel, play, forage, rest and socialize together...

...most often we humans only see what's going on above the surface and rarely, except for those great news helicopters in Seattle, do we get a look at how they are, in their world, below the surface...here's a link to KOMO 4 News video taken in Puget Sound in early January (you may have seen it)...it's slow to load but so worth the wait...

They're called the humans of the sea...
...people who are familiar with these whales know they are families and not just a bunch of whales in the water...
...they stay with their families their entire lives...
...they are playful...
...they help one another in many ways...
...they readjust their families to welcome in a whale who has lost their family members...

...the older females are babysitters...mostly referred to as post-reproductive females, these 'auntie' whales are of utmost importance to the health of this population. Many babies to raise and many auntie whales needed to help the moms as these young whales grow and learn.

...lots of 'whale hugs' of many variations...and a lot that involves their dorsal fins.........
...Ophelia L-27 is considered to be a post reproductive female...she has outlived all of her offspring, she can be found helping out with her sisters' kids and even her niece's first baby- L-116...
...right now in this family group, known as the L4s, there are 6 kids...Lapis L-103 the oldest at 9 years, Pooka L-106 will be 7 this year...Takoda L-109 will be 5 this year and the three little guys are Sooke L-112, Finn L-116 and 1 year old (apx) baby L-118...
...I have been fortunate to see Ophelia many times 'tending' to the little guys...

...the boys...well, even the adult males (some researchers attach the age of 15 for an adult male) but over the last 35 years of study by researchers, who see and observe these whales on a more regular basis, have drawn the conclusion that they are more likely considered adults, by the whales in the community, when they reach the age of about 20...

...often the males are seen playing around...how close they are!
...the one male's fluke is casting a shadow on another male's dorsal fin......see their closeness...that's a male's tail wrapping around the other male......this is Mike J-26 gently laying his dorsal fin on Canuck's L-7 back and sliding it over her......click here to see the post from that day July 1, 2010... and more photos of him and Canuck...

...those are just a few examples of the closeness of these whales, from what we humans would translate as tender moments to others of wild romping...

...and then I came across this image of Ruffles and Granny...
...in my opinion, no one likes to think of these whales being harmed, and now that the Federal government has granted a permit for satellite tagging to be done to 6 of these Endangered orcas, potentially each year for the next 5 years, using the means of a cross bow or an air gun, to gather information that most likely will not benefit the orcas, is frustrating at the least...

...this type of action, being done purposely by humans to these whales, brings up many questions.
...tax dollars being spent in this manner also brings up many questions.

...what questions might it bring up for you?

1-21-12 Same Time Next Year They Said!

2012-01-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 21st

...a call from a friend who saw whales - oh, my!...
...at first there were maybe 4 seen, with one adult male...then they were down for a long time...hum...
...the LK hydrophone s had been quiet of whale talk ever since two mornings ago...
...maybe they were Ts...

...a call from Capt. Jim and we were off the dock in 30 minutes, whales just outside of Snug Harbor - but of course!...
...we saw that first group of 4...
...then another group was coming up from south of us...so we waited for them...
...at first I though Ts...then Capt. Jim saw that notch that Polaris J-28 has and then Blackberry J-27 surfaced with a clear view of his saddle patch......all right we had at least Group B...
...Blackberry J-27, Tsuchi J-31, Mako J-39, Oreo J-22, Rhapsody J-32, DoubleStuf J-34, Cookie J-38, Princess Angeline J-17, Polaris J-28, Tahlequah J-35, Moby J-44, Star J-46, and Notch J-47 (13 total)...

...taking pictures was a bit challenging...wrong focus point!...back in 2010 the J16s spent their time with Group A...in 2011, when J Pod was split (which wasn't as much as 2010) they moved back and forth between group A and B...and today, when we first arrived on scene, the J16s were up ahead of Group B...Polaris J-28, Star J-26 and Blackberry J-27......guess who this is......DoubleStuf J-34 was present......so after getting pics of the larger group we went to see if more than the J16s were up ahead...
...Mike J-26...notice the wave...there were a lot of those today......it took several surfacing sequences to get a saddle patch on him......mom, Slick J-16 was traveling with Echo J-42 next to her, but we didn't see her new calf J-48. When we first saw Alki J-36, she was surfacing with Rhapsody J-32...and by that time Group B and the J16s had melded into one group of 17 whales...
...some Group B members...that's Cookie J-38 just surfacing on the right......the whales were moving very slowly and this was the only 'extra action' other than their surfacing......we left the whales at 12:45, heading north, towards Turn Pt.......perhaps they will come down the west side in the next few days...and they will be chatty!...then again they might go down San Juan Channel, where it'll be ferry people who may spot them!

...Granny's group (Group A) consists of Granny J-2, Spieden J-8, Onyx L-87, Shachi J-19, Eclipse J-41, Samish J-14 and her kids - Riptide J-30, Hy'Shqa J-37, Suttles J-40 and Se-Yi-Chn J-45...

...one year ago actually on 1/22/2011 Group B and the K Klik (Cappuccino K-21, Raggedy K-40, Opus K-16 and Sonata K-35) were traveling south on the west side of San Juan Island...they headed out...the next day they came back in and several days later they were seen in San Juan Channel going south...
...it was a good Blackmouth salmon season last year...fishermen were saying...

...we'll see if it's good enough to keep the whales around here...
...maybe Group A and Group B will meet up...
...wonder where the K Klik is and the rest of K pod...could they soon be heading for California with L pod?...but then again I don't think K pod has been seen down there in a long time...

1-19-12 They're Here...Somewhere That Is!

2012-01-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 19th

...6:59 a.m. whales on the Lime Kiln hydrophones!

...their calls lasted only 30 seconds and were very faint...
...don't know if they were inbound or outbound...'assuming' inbound...

...all I know is that I heard J pod calls...
...you may need to turn your volume way up...the whales were rather far away!

...this time of year it is common for them to come in and go down into Puget Sound...last year they did come up this way a few times in January and even more times in February and March...

...I was expecting to hear them on the Port Townsend hydrophones, but so far 2:00pm, I haven't...it's not uncommon for them to pass there undetected...

...they may show up on the Port Townsend hps...sometime this afternoon...but I really don't know...
...of course, if they were outbound at 7am, then they are long gone by now...

1-17-12 Revealed: What's Behind Those Mammary Slits

2012-01-17T15:45:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, January 17th

...it's been really quiet, a good time to organize photos...or something...I got side tracked...
...hum...just how many Southern Residents do I have a breaching picture of?
...I began to gather them, one whale at a time...going down the list...

...many breaching pics and also many times not enough info to verify who...
...this is an adult male..by the size of the pectoral fins...all the info possible at this point...
...not enough dorsal fin and no saddle patch here...
...this is a female - visual of her mammary slits......hum......then I got side tracked again...if I get enough of the 'where white meets black,' along with positive identifiers, then I'll potentially be able to identify breaching whales who give me 'no help' (i.e. no dorsal fin or saddle patch)...

...so my hunt for who I had breaching turned into who did I have that I could match up 'where white meets black'?...and pretty soon that had me on another quest...
..a young female...notice the shape of the white in the genital area......an adult female......the shape is the same but the mammary slits are more noticeable on the adult than the juvenile...the coloration difference could be due to age or to individuality or even just the lighting and/or angle the picture was taken...

...a juvenile male......an adult male......I noticed something unusual in this next picture......so I zoomed in...
...something was different about the mammary slits...
...zooming in closer...
...her calf had evidently just nursed...mom's nipples are exposed outside of the mammary slits...amazing......I'm not exactly sure how they do it...but they know and that's all that really matters...
...I did a search on-line and there was more than one answer...so I'll leave it for you to search...

...my apologies to K27 for invading her privacy but this was just too interesting not to share it... :)

1-8-12 What Was I Thinking - No Whales - HA!

2012-01-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

Sunday, January 8th...second post of the day...

earlier I posted 'no whales'...etc....

...it was a while later that Capt. Jim of Maya's Westside Charters calls and all I can hear is garble, garble garble (cell phones- ugh!), "are you coming?" ...well that had to be about whales...

...on my way to the harbor I hear from Kim that transients are after a Steller sea lion in Spieden Channel...oh, my, we had to hurry...

...Dave of the Center for Whale Research met us and off we went...

...Spieden Channel is becoming a regular location for spotting transients...then again I wonder if maybe it's 'the spotters,' Kim and Karl, who are just always looking...Lonesome Cove, this afternoon was certainly the place to be to see transients tangle with a Steller sea lion...

...as we arrived on scene the transients were still after the Steller...tail flukes belong to T75B...that Steller is looking in our direction, but we were way far away from him......these splashes belong to T68, going after that Steller......here's T68...she has a great notch and a lumpy dorsal fin......her boy is T68A...he has a kinky fin...making his dorsal fin look different from different angles......lots of Stellers were hauled out at Green Pt......the whales must have had the Steller 'on the bottom' or somewhere because it wasn't floating, and it took quite a while before any gulls showed up...two got there first... ...and then the rest...well, you know how gulls can be!...T68A, two gulls and two Mouflon rams......guess these two were after scraps from the big boy......the whales would move about slowly for a while and then go down again for several minutes...sometimes surfacing together...T75B, T68A and T68 on the far side......from left T68, T75B and T75B1......we left them still feeding on their meal...

...when I got home I checked on the California sea lion...he was still in the same place he was at 10:30 this morning (see previous post)...makes me wonder if those Ts had been in the neighborhood and this CA sea lion got 'wind' of them and decided on 'Plan B' for his day...

1-8-12 Right Outside the Door

2012-01-08T12:39:00.001-08:00

Sunday, January 8th...

...no whales but an unusual visitor and more...go to Extras In The Whales' World - An Unusual Visitor and Keeping an Eagle Eye

1-6-12 Some Fabulous Helicopter Orca Video

2012-01-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 6th

...you may have seen this, but if not...this was taken by KOMO 4 News helicopter today as J pod and more were seen in Puget Sound heading north slowly...

...bunched together and with some cool music I just keep watching the video over and over...you might too...

...about 1/2 way through you'll see some moms and kids - that's the J17s...

...then at the very bottom of the screen Slick J-16 and Echo J-42 - Slick has a long finger on her right saddle and Echo has an open saddle...

...also I think Cali K-34 with his open saddle patch surfaced with the group, sort of in the front...if so, then the K13s would be there...

...there's another video from today by King 5 News helicopter...
...it was from farther away...one whale had a very open saddle - could be Rainshadow K37, but difficult to tell from the distance...but if so then maybe most of K pod is there too...

...I'm sure some were out there with the whales today, so we'll hear soon who all was present...

...and maybe, just maybe they will be heard on the Pt. Townsend hydrophones this evening...that is if they are talking and if they keep on moving north, which is what they had been doing most of the day...of course when that might be...

...it's a great 'whale fix' for us all!

12-30-11 One Last Time for 2011?

2011-12-30T16:36:00.000-08:00

Friday, December 30th

...my how time flies!...it's been since the 19th that whales have been seen or heard...
...this morning that changed...
...it was 10:26 when I heard 'something' - oh, my it's J pod!! gee, it had been so long...

...they 'showed up' abruptly on the Lime Kiln hydrophones and their calls were very clear...their volume indicated they were probably at least a 1/2 mile or more off shore...

...and just as abruptly (or so it seemed) their calls stopped...they lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds! (I should say the clip is that long. The calls were actually about another 30 seconds.)

...with the Orca Sound hps being down - most likely from all the storms, there was no way to tell which way they were going...I scanned, but with the seas being so nasty I doubt I would have seen them...

...listening to the recording again I heard J pod, a couple L pod calls (maybe Onyx L-87), and what sounded like a couple faint K pod calls...

...I learned several hours later that 45 minutes after I had heard them, they were north of me heading north...
...now we have their return to look forward to!...that is if they come back down this way...

...last year on January 3rd, J and K pods and Onyx came in and went north...they came back down four days later...

...we'll have to wait and hopefully see them when they do come back down - in the daylight and with calm seas maybe??

12-19-11 Transient Killer Whale Zooming the Shore Line!

2011-12-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 19th

...7:15 a.m. I hear transient calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...they only last a couple minutes at the most...they could be anywhere out there...

...2 hours and 15 minutes later, after a quick run to town, I stopped to scan ...and oh, was I in for what ended up being an awesome whale day!

...the water was good for scanning and within just a minute or two I actually found whales! I could hardly believe that...a group of what looked like females and kids...no big males......I wondered if it was the same whales Ivan had seen yesterday morning from Cattle Pass, but no one ever found them after his sighting...
...then again there was also a report of whales going through Pole Pass on Sunday...who knows...I only knew I had whales, maybe 6 or so and they were heading toward Discovery Island...they were about three miles offshore...
...(click image to enlarge) there is an almost imperceptible dot in the middle of the pic...that'll give you an idea of how far away they were......I figured I would just enjoy watching them as they headed away from San Juan Island...then I lost them and it took about 25 minutes before I found them again...but this time there was an adult male surfacing with another whale, and they weren't too far from the other group...

...things started to get exciting when the group with the moms and kids surfaced and through my binos I could actually see more than just little killer whale dots in the water!...
...they had changed direction and looked to be heading up Haro Strait - whoo-hoo!!
...the big male surfaced coming directly toward shore, almost right at me...then before I knew it he turned and headed up island...
...I bolt to the car and get to Land Bank as fast as I can...
...he's already passing by......off to the next spot...fluke prints......to the next spot......he is going so fast...Ivan arrives in time and gets his binos on him while I'm trying to get pics...it's T30A!...
...he is still going fast...and to the Park...look how close he is to the wall...that's the top of his dorsal fin as he dives...he's just off the kelp below the wall......there was no way I could make it to the Park...so I just watched...he went out of view and it seemed he was going to keep on going at his fast pace...but he came back into view and headed offshore...
...I headed for Capt. Jim's boat of Maya's Westside Charters...Dave from the Center for Whale Research was on his way...Ivan of the Western Prince, was keeping an eye on these whales for as long as possible...
...out of the harbor we all went...it had only been at the most 20 minutes since Ivan last saw them...we couldn't find them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no!!!!!!!!! not again!!!!!!!!!!
...just how far could they have gone in that shore period of time?
...just who else was there?
...T30A has three other family members: his mom T30 and two siblings, T30B and T30C...were they part of that group of about 6 whales?
...but then we could see that group had some little kids in it too, so that wouldn't be the other T30s...

...we went to where they were last seen...we scanned and scanned...after being convinced they weren't where we were, Capt. Jim said he thought they had gone north...and of course he was right!...he spotted them north of Kelp Reef...this picture taken later in the encounter, but it shows Kelp Reef marker to the south of us......the whales seemed to be heading for Hughes Pass or just east of there still going up...
...they made a direction change...seems they found a harbor seal......here's the harbor seal again in the middle of all that froth...whales had just zoomed on by the seal causing quite a stir!...the whales we saw were not the T30s, not even the big male! where did they go?...hum...
...Dave ID'd them right off as the T49As and T49Bs...two sisters and they each have some kids...it's a bit confusing...T49A...her oldest is sprouter T49A1...and she had/has two younger kids...earlier this year it was believed that T49A2 was 'no longer'...but guess who was here today?...yep, T49A2, as well as younger sibling T49A3...

...but who wasn't here today was T49B's oldest offspring T49B1...but T49B2 was here today.
...we saw this happen with another group last year...so T49B1 may just show up with someone's group...who knows maybe T49B1 was off with T30A and whoever else...of course no telling where they are...a bit confusing, but I'll be updating the pages in The Book to reflect all that!

...I noticed some interesting 'stripes' on T49A3...well they aren't scratches but I'm not sure what they are...if the calf was a lot younger it might be contributed to fetal folds, but this calf is older...I looked back at some pics from the spring and I could see only the one 'stripe' in the middle of the saddle patch...but now there appears to be three......someone was feeling good...Lime Kiln lighthouse in the distance......T49A2 is full of scratches...is covered in them and on both sides too...looks like someone with lots of tattoos!...the two moms/sisters......it was now time for lunch...(click on image to enlarge)...the harbor seal is in the kelp to the left of T49A...

...they spent quite a bit of time, maybe giving the kids some lessons on how to capture lunch, before actually having it...then they slowly began to move along...
...T49B2 surfaced ahead of mom and was playing around...did a headstand and showed enough of the white belly markings to indicate that this little one is a male!!
...it's not a lot to go on, but a male and female belly markings are very different...because of the long marking it makes me think this is a male...

...last April, T75B1 did an aerial leap that showed enough of her belly to reveal a female...here's that post

...I guess anyway you can get them works!

...I don't think that T30A was seen again today...will we get lucky enough to add another piece of the Puzzle of the T30s tomorrow...I can only hope so!

12-17-11 Oh, Those Transients!

2011-12-17T21:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 17th

...well, yes, it is winter...and well, yes, we don't have whales around like in the summer...

...and thank goodness for the hydrophones!

...there are whales - Js and Onyx L-87 and Ks - down in Puget Sound, and whales up in Georgia Strait, and whales out by Sooke and no whales around San Juan Island...

...except in the darkness!

...late today, about 5:30 I pick up some very faint, high pitched 'squiggles' on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...
...then about 10 minutes later a lower tone...clearly a transient call...

...a ship came through, drowning out any of those very faint calls...
...then lots of intermittent faint calls for a while...and at about 7:25 a long line of transient calls...
...a couple times I could hear 'buzzing' - echolocating maybe...not something I usually hear with transients...hum...

...here's the recording:
-a faint 'squiggle' sound
-one faint call
-3 minutes of some really cool transient calls
-3 seconds with the buzzing sound

...they were on the Lime Kiln Hps until just after 8pm.
...I wonder if they could be the ones who were seen out by Sooke today...or just maybe there are more whales in store for anyone who might be listening in tonight!

12-13-11 Transients...But Only for a Moment or Two

2011-12-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, December 13th
...oh so short....and totally cool...

Transients...that's it...

...that's all there was...couldn't locate them...but at least thanks to the Orca Sound Hydrophones we knew they were close by!

...just as I was about to post this...the sunset...well just look......now to get whales and a sunset like this - at the same time!

12-11-11 Killer Whale Slide Show - 2011 In Review

2011-12-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday, December 11th

...today is the 8th Annual Holiday Tours to the Top of the Lighthouse at Lime Kiln Pt. State Park from 1 to 4...

...Each year I make a slide show to show at Tours to the Top...this year I expanded it to loosely depict the 2011 year, of the killer whales in the Salish Sea, by month...

...lots of home baked goodies made by Pat, hot cider and lots of fun...

But if you don't make it to the lighthouse today...make yourself some hot cider and enjoy the show.

2011 In Review

The whales haven't been heard from since the early morning hours last Monday (see that post - 12/5 - for some audio of their 'party')...

...each year they are invited to the Tours to the Top, but so far they've had other things to do...
perhaps this year they will...

...if there is salmon around that would certainly help...

12-8-11 Amazing Steller Sea Lions Today!

2011-12-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

A very unusual encounter with Steller sea lions today...link here to the video

Normally they haul out at Green Pt. like this image (from file)......check out the video (same link as above)to see where they were and what they did today!

Amazing!

12-5-11 Middle of The Night Concert Goer

2011-12-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

2:30 a.m. Monday, December 5th
(This is a re-post. The audio clips now work.)

...no visuals at 2:30 a.m. when the whales woke me up...

...thank goodness I slept through the first 1 & 1/2 hours of their concert, because they continued until almost 6 a.m.!

...they were on both Orca Sound and Lime Kiln hydrophones...most often you can potentially figure out a direction based on volume, but this time they first appeared on both hydrophones at just about the same time...

...then they got a bit louder on Lime Kiln with echolocation clicks and the accompaniment of ship noise...listen to how their calls are echoing in the channels...

...they began to fade off and get louder on Orca Sound Hps...
...then louder on Lime Kiln...
...it continued back and forth, like this, for a long time...
...then they seemed to pick a direction and head up island.
...I kept going outside to try to hear blows...even though it was flat/calm I couldn't hear any...

...J and K calls and I'll guess that Onyx L-87 was with them...
...then the calls faded off Lime Kiln and only could be heard on Orca Sound...

...there had been ships passing through, on and off during the night and the whales' calls continued...
...then as the calls faded off Orca Sound and with an approaching ship that was at about 5:55a.m. I continued listening but heard no more calls...

...I've seen them in the summer come through Baynes Channel and into Haro Strait...spread out - some going up and others going down - some coming across toward the light and others staying far offshore...then eventually picking a direction...

...I wonder if that's what they did this time...I need some night vision binos for the next middle of the night encounter!

...their concert lasted 5 hours...

...and just like any late night concert goer...I then went to sleep!

...I heard that on Monday afternoon, while flying from Victoria to Vancouver, Mark spotted whales just south of Pt. Roberts! - so, they did go north!!

12/3/11 - Part 2 - A New Spotting Phrase

2011-12-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 3rd - PART 2

...I learned from Dave at the Center for Whale Research that the first group of whales that we spotted yesterday are California Transients...no wonder I was having such a difficult time trying to match them up!

...I have only seen one other CA transient orca...needless to say this was really cool! (other pics of these whales are in the previous post)
...Race Rocks Lighthouse as we and the whales were heading west, zigging and zagging their way along......the other whales, we believed there to be four, including a large male...we spotted them to the right of that freighter...gives you an idea of how far back they were......you can't see any whales in this image...but when one of the passengers asked me "where are they?"...well, since I had only that ship to use as a point...I said, "two pie slices to the right."...I'm still laughing about that! A new spotting phrase! LOL!!!
...they were moving west rapidly and it was getting choppy......this is one of those times they 'zagged'...but it was great, I got a chance to get some right side pics......after turning back toward Race Rocks, Victoria and beyond, we continued to scan and remained to the south side of Race Rocks, sort of aiming for that 'pie slice' location from earlier...but no luck...

...when we got south of Victoria at 4 1/2 miles I spotted more whales...
eeeekkkk....turn...gotta see who they are...5 whales in this group too and all new to me...
...T46C...this is as much as she gave me...it was choppy here too, and they were moving against a strong current......T46B is the mom...she has a first offspring - T46B1 (see below)...and so these other two...well are they both hers?...or is one hers and one her sister's (T46C)?...in loosely doing the math...it is possible that she has had two more offspring since T46B1 was born in 2003....and they would be T46B2 and T46B3...
...T46B with youngest member of this group......BUT her sister was born in 1994, making it possible for to her to have had a baby as well......I'm guessing they both belong to T46B...

...and now for T46B1...who I have called 'Tire Tracks' ever since I saw a picture of his (I think) left saddle patch marking, I've wanted to meet this whale......here's another image close up...but the choppy water was not cooperating......those 'tire tracks' go all the way down the saddle patch...curious as to what they were caused from...

...we stayed just a few minutes with this group and then headed for the harbor......just like we left the other group, beautiful blows in the distance...except this group was heading east...

...and that brings me to a wonderful gift for whale lovers, including yourself! A great Audio CD of the blows of the orcas...called They'll Take Your Breath Away! Check it out!

12-3-11 Part 1 - How Many Whales In That Group?

2011-12-03T22:15:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 3rd

...out with Spencer of Legacy Charters...he was taking his passengers to the west...just in case there might be some whales about...
...we visited Race Rocks and then decided to head south a bit - it was about two minutes when Spencer spotted whales in the distance!...there was a group not too far away and they were coming in our direction...moving at a good pace, heading west...
...I thought it was one group...but then later when I looked at my pictures I realized I didn't have a clue who I was looking at...Oh, goodie, more 'new to me' transients!...or at least I think so...
...it took a long time just to figure out how many were in this group...

...#1...#2...#3

...#4...#5...I can't figure out who they are...so I've sent them off to Dave at the Center for Whale Research...

...at the same time we had first spotted the above whales, we also saw, what appeared to be 4 others about two miles to the east, heading west, just like the 5 whales above...
...we kept our eyes on them as best we could, but the 5 whales were moving at a good clip and we stayed with them...
...we never did find those others, so won't know who it was, except that Spencer had seen a big male...

...we left the group of 5 a mile or more west of Race Rocks and began heading back east...we had swung south just in case we might spot those other four but no luck...
...that is until I saw whales - yes! more whales! - they were south of us, by maybe a 1/2 mile...they were heading inbound and they were moving slowly...

...thinking they might be the four we had spotted earlier...but, just like the other group, there was no big male...hum...

...that's part 2...which will be tomorrow...

It's was an awesome day!

11/27/11 Whale of A Surprise In Store!

2011-11-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 27th

...about 7:20 this morning I am hearing something on the Lime Kiln hydrophones that I keep dismissing..."calls...no...calls...no..." they were high pitched and very faint...off in the distance...
...finally at about 7:32 I add the Orca Sound hydrophones and I could hear the same calls more clearly...hum...now the questions began...
...had they been way offshore and are now angling across?...
...had they just been quiet and were now chatting more?...
- I was assuming they were going north -

...when they got louder for me...I took off...in the rain...to try to find them...but I just didn't know which way they might be going...
...I stop at County Park and see a big male off in the distance going NORTH...race back north to my spot and wait...get some pics...a large group heading up island about a 1/2 mile from shore...there is a big male with a heavily leaning dorsal fin...but I didn't stop to try to figure out who was there...I had already heard J, K and L pod calls on the hydrophones...
...my assumptions were taking charge...

...I take some more pictures of this group...lousy lighting...pouring rain...unfamiliar camera...would any of the pics turn out?...just shoot...

...then I see two whales moving rapidly down island...they are about a mile from shore in the edge of the stormy haze...
...the group that was going up island had been taking long dives...and were down...would I wait for them to surface again?...or maybe they already turned and are heading back down island...but from where I was I couldn't tell...dilemma...

...off to Cty Park again...I see one whale way south in the distance, heading away...I can see no whales to the north...I wonder where that large group got to...hum...

...of to Lime Kiln...plasticize myself to stay sorta dry...it's pouring...
Onyx L-87 off in the distance...a female in closer...Suttles J-40 foraging...and it looks like her little brother Se-Yi-Chn J-45 too...
...whales going down Haro Strait about a 1mile from shore...I can hear J and K pod calls while watching them...

...all gone...none to the north, south or west that I can see...home to get dry...
...look at pictures...I wonder who's in that big group... OH, MY, GOODNESS - IT's TRANSIENTS!!!
you'll want to click to enlarge...
...here's what I saw first......then a large male surfaced......there are 5 up in this image......the far left whale from the above image is surfacing more (see below)...and there is one just about to break the surface just to the right of middle (looks more like a log but it's a whale) for #6......as #5 is diving...#6 is up (in the middle) and Mr. Floppy Fin is surfacing (left) to make #7......the next frame show the tip of a baby's fin, surfacing next to mom...to make #8...
...and Mr. Floppy Fin surfaces......and there were a couple sprouters in the mix too- # 9 and 10... (no images shown)
...mom and baby on left and mom on right......same two moms with kids now up......one of the moms and kids up......my guess is that it's the T18s and the T49s...but that's a guess...I have sent the pics to Dave, Center for Whale Research, for his expert eyes to let me know !!

Added 11/28/11: Yes, verified by Dave it is the T18s and the T49s!
For those of you with The Book, take a look on the T18s page and the T49s page and match to some of the similarities in the photos on this post!

That was just way too cool...transients going north totally quiet, while some very chatty Southern Residents were going south...passing each other in Haro Strait...

J pod whales (not all who exactly), some K pod whales (not all who exactly) and Onyx L-87 went down island...did they go out the Strait of Juan de Fuca or might they show up in Puget Sound?...

...so those calls I heard the other morning, November 23rd, hum...now I wonder if they could have been Residents going north...

11-23-11 Whales! Who? Which Way?

2011-11-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, November 23rd

...it was too dark to see them, it was just 6:53 a.m....instead I heard them on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...they were faint calls...

...as I was listening I began to doubt what I was hearing...it was too repetitive and rhythmical...it must be a squeaky something...

...but then at about 1 minute...and for the next 10 seconds there were calls...
...then back to the rhythmical sounds...was it a call and response?...or just one call with a delay in the middle?...

...so I began to question it all again...then at 2 minutes 10 seconds (about) there were a few other calls...they made me realize I wasn't listening to a squeaky something...

...the calls ended...a total length of 2 minutes and 45 seconds...and that's all I heard...

...who could they be?
...all I know is that the other day when some Js and some Ks and Onyx L-87 were spotted heading west at Sooke, that not all members of Js or Ks were present...(from Gold Wing - Jeff)
...Gold Wing - Jeff saw Onyx L-87 and Granny J-2 which indicates that at least Group A of J Pod was present...
...and on the previous Saturday (11/19) when whales were spotted down in Puget Sound, one of the pictures on Orca Network showed that members of Group B of J Pod were down there...

...since then it's been pretty nasty and stormy...

...and where might they be going?
-transients who sounded like Residents?...and they could be just about anywhere in the hydrophone range.
-Group B, who came out of Puget Sound, and was passing by Discovery Island as they headed west?
-Group A, who came back in and is now heading east down to Puget Sound?
-the K Klik (you know - Cappuccino K-21, Raggedy K-40, Opus K-16 and Sonata K-35) who, last time we saw them were off on their own?
-none of the above!

...of course this list could include other K pod whales, the L2s, the L12s, etc. etc....

...don't you just love a good mystery!

11-19-11 Hey Karl, Find Me Some Whales!

2011-11-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

Saturday, November 19th

...last Tuesday night transient calls were heard on the Orca Sound hydrophones for about an hour...(go to my previous post to hear a bit of their calls)...

...Wednesday two transients were spotted off Green Point - east end of Spieden Island - by Karl of Lonesome Cove...

...then all was quiet, that is except for raccoons running around on my roof in the middle of the night! ugh!...

...now we're up to today, Saturday...Capt. Jim of Maya's Westside Charters was out this morning and asked Karl to find him some whales...a couple minutes later Karl calls him back and said, "there's two whales at Green Point" - yes again!!
...by the time Jim got to them he actually saw more than two...there were 6 total!

...out on his afternoon trips...we headed up Boundary Pass and picked them up as they headed up north...
...T20 and T21 surfaced together......there was an adult and a baby......and I realized it was T002C1 and his newest sibling T002C3...first seen, I think, by Simon and Ivan when they were up north in September...
...it's the first time I've seen this new one...

...when we came back out later the whales had gone up near Skip Jack Island...the seas had flattened out and it was much easier to pick up the whales...
...T20 and T002C1 were playing around together...for a while we couldn't decide if it was play or eating...maybe a bit of both, but the birds that came by didn't stop for a snack...so I'm guessing play...
...T20's flukes......T20 spyhopping with T002C1 next to him......and of course we all tried for a Mt. Baker/whales pic......they were meandering about, not going anywhere...could possibly still be around tomorrow...but then again we won't know until someone sees them...maybe Karl will ! :)

...then T21, and mom T002c and her other two kids, were up ahead...just before leaving they began to head our direction...
...mom T002C and baby T002C3......just as we turned to leave, the two big boys surfaced with some really nice sunset colors reflecting off their bodies......and we got back to the harbor just in time...dark-thirty was still a little while off......here it was November 19th, 6 transients and the sun shining all day long - awesome!

11-15-11 Ts Are Back - In the Dark!

2011-11-15T19:23:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, November 15th

...last evening some transients were on the Orca Sound hydrophones, ever so briefly...about 3 calls and then nothing for about an hour and then about 3 calls and then that was it...

...and tonight, close to the same time - just after 7pm - transients are on the Orca Sound hydrophones and talking quite a bit!...they went on and on for just about an hour...

...here's some of what they've been saying...

...maybe those Ts will still be around tomorrow...

...AND the Residents...well, interesting enough Js and Onyx L-87 (of course) and Ks (not sure about the K Klik though) were located this afternoon heading west...out by Sooke...glad the Victoria guys are still going out - Mark and Jeff at least...thanks!!

...so I just wonder if maybe on Saturday they didn't all go out...maybe the L pod whales who had been here did (or maybe they are still around too!), but it seems that just maybe Js and Ks were down in the big water, and today they were actually leaving...of course we'll never know for sure...on Sunday and Monday the seas had been really big!

11-12-11 The Answer Is In!

2011-11-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday, November 12th
...K Klik (see previous post) was way up ahead of the rest !!

...I love it when the pieces of a chapter come together...

...here's the scoop...stormy day, big seas, pouring rain...I opted to stay home and dry (or at least I thought I might)...then I get a call from Capt. Jim..."Residents coming down Haro Strait!"

...I heard J and K calls for on the Orca sound hydrophones...I went on to the park...it wasn't long before I learned that the whales were headed toward Kelp Reef - 3 miles off shore...and of course, this is not summer so they could easily just stay way out there...and they did...

...I could hear a some faint calls...I watched one large boat, coming down Haro Strait, make a turn to the west and went what seemed about a mile or more...then changed course and continued on down Haro...

...I could see another boat, but mainly only its 'lid' because the swells were so big...nasty seas...and still pouring rain...I did end up in the rain and didn't even see a whale!

...then the whales stopped talking...I could see splashes...if they were vocal they would have been detected on the LK Hps...didn't hear another squeak out of them at all...

...of the whales who had gone up island on Saturday November 5th;
-the 4 K Klik whales came down on November 10th
-the rest of K pod, J pod and the Ls (from what I was told) came down today...BUT...read the 'uh-oh! section on this post...

...for 7 days they were up there somewhere...I wonder if anyone even saw them...

...they must have been finding food to have been up north for so many days...

...will they follow K Klik and go out the Strait?...that may be the next chapter...

...no pictures from today...except that while I was re-listening to the hydrophone recording, I was tagging some images from this past summer...
that tall fin belongs to Riptide J-30, who Capt. Jim did see today...and a whale with a pec up in the air...who was that?...hum...well and that pec waving whale rolled on her back and tailed lobbed...and because of that I was able to match her up - who else but Granny J-2 !!!...and another one I found today...a Double spyhop from this summer...didn't know who it was 'til I looked today - ...it's Granny J-2 and Spieden J-8!

uh-0h!...as I was finishing up I heard some calls on the Orca Sound hydrophones (after 7:30 pm)...just a couple calls and loud, and at about the same time a few on the Lime Kiln Hps those were faint...I think they were the same calls, just coming across each set of HPs moments apart...not sure though...

...were more whales still coming down from the north?...next chapter...

11-10-11 Click...Click...Click...

2011-11-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Thursday, November 10th

...click...click...click...I'm working at the computer...click...click..."OH! those are echolocations clicks!"

...when I got to the park I saw Raggedy K-40... ...she was up ahead of Cappuccino K-21......I barely got pics of them as you can see...then I wondered if they were in the lead or if they were the trailers...

...it was about 10 minutes later that I heard a few K pod calls on the hydrophones...so I waited...but I could not locate any other whales...

(...last Saturday is the last time we saw J and K pods and several L pod whales...Cappuccino and Raggedy were with them...and they went north that night...)

...finally I drove south...the water was flat calm...I found 4 whales, two of them being Cappuccino and Raggedy, the other two were Opus K-16 and Sonata K-35...known in my world as the 'K Klik' because they travel together and sometimes split off from the others...but I could not locate any other whales...

...so, there were 3 options:
1-they were way behind everyone else. - already scanned down/off island and could not see any others..
2-they were way ahead of everyone else. - I went to county park and scanned north - no whales...
3-they were traveling by themselves.

...when I last saw them, one whale was foraging in a rip about a 1/2 mile off shore at Pile Pt. the others were heading offshore...but I'm not much good on where offshore!

...Capt. Jim of Maya's Westside Charters called - yes, he runs all year - yea! - so we headed down island at noon...
...Ivan on the Western Explorer, happened to be coming up from Port Townsend...so we coordinated where to look...
4 whales - 2 boats - lots of water...it would be a challenge...

Ivan picked them up over closer to Discovery Island...that's Cappuccino......Cappuccino K-21......Raggedy K-40......the other two whales were maybe a mile or more closer to Discovery Island...

...they were all moving slowly in the same direction - west...after a while they began to move closer together...giving us a chance to verify Opus and Sonata's presence...here's Opus K-16......Opus and Sonata K-35......so the K Klik is back in 'swing!'...a spectacular day on the water...with Cappuccino's 'rainbow' and all!
...we left them heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca...Cappuccino, Opus, Sonata...Raggedy was there too, just not at the surface in this pic......so now after all that...could they be way, way far ahead of the others...click...click...like in 'they'll show up tomorrow???...
...or could the others have gone by quietly, undetected...click...click...
or course there are many other possibilities...click...click...click...

11-7-11 California Sea Lions Bark Under the Surface!

2011-11-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

Monday, November 7th

...awakened at 4:49 a.m. with what sounded like a barking California sea lion in the distance...on the Orca Sound Hps...I thought, "they don't bark when under the surface, do they?"...hum...

..the barking stopped, so I figured it must be a ship in the distance...BUT THEN...the barking got really loud!

...amazing! They do bark when under the surface... here's a short clip...it starts out pretty loud but actually not the loudest part...and then as he is moving off.

...no word on the whales from Friday...maybe I'll hear them next...don't I wish!

Check this out: added 11-8-11 - Scott, the acoustical wizard of Beam Reach and Orca Sound hydrophone systems posted this yesterday...fascinating information about barking CA sea lions under the surface...

11-5-11 It's Killer Whale Territory Once Again!

2011-11-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday, November 5th

...so it's November...it's the 5th of November...sunshine...flat calm water...AND J pod, K pod and some L pod whales showed up today!!!...they spent from about 3:00pm until after dark off the west side of San Juan Island...well actually it's almost 10pm and the whales have been quite loud on the Orca Sound hydrophones...

...this afternoon I could see the whales as they crossed Haro Strait from Discovery Island...they looked to be heading down island toward Eagle Cove...but after a while I saw a few who were heading up island...

...the first whale to reach Land Bank, just south of Lime Kiln, was Granny J-2...she was pretty close to shore and moving directional up island...she stopped along a kelp bed, then spyhopped a few times before continuing north......lots more whales were coming up island behind her...some were in close and others off shore...it was difficult to tell if they were actually moving up or if they were slowly moving off...most of the whales I could see were way in the distance...

...two came close-ish to shore, Blackberry J-27 and Nyssa L-84, traveling together......the light had already been challenging with the clouds and the fading light...and now it was beginning to get darker...luckily Nyssa breached near the remaining sun track......then it looked like he was standing on his head......and then Blackberry spyhopped......there were large groups of whales, just hanging out...facing northwest but not going anywhere......I stayed until I couldn't see the whales any longer...only because it was too dark...they were actually still there, more than a mile offshore not going anywhere...

...I thought they would end up going back out the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so I was surprised when at about 9:15 their calls started getting louder - they passed Lime Kiln at about 9:00...and then on the Orca Sound hydrophones their calls were really loud by about 10:00...

...it sounds as if they have moved north...and with them going north, that makes it all the more curious for tomorrow!...or will they come back down tonight?

...setting the clocks back one hour, well that's one less hour of darkness before we can maybe see where the whales are!

...they don't care about daylight savings time...
...they care about salmon and where they can find it...

11-3/4-11 Killer Whales? No, But A Breaching Humpback Whale Will Do!

2011-11-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday/Friday, November 3/4

Thursday
...so on Wednesday the whales - yes, our wonderful J, K and most of L pod whales, were spotted coming in!...but...they didn't get too far when they turned and began going back out...later they turned and were last seen heading back in...maybe we'd find them...

...out on Maya's Westside Charters on Thursday, we headed down island...just in case...but they weren't found and neither were the two humpbacks, Split Fin and Split Fluke, who had been around for what seemed like weeks...

...at Whale Rocks...Steller sea lions of course...lots of them at this time of year...I'm always looking for branded ones - see below and click here for a few fun photos of these guys...

...Thursday...I can't quite figure this one out...it looks like a 0 on the top and then three number a small 0 a partial 3 (that is much larger) and a clear 9...and the location of the brand is different......I'm more used to seeing this...
...added 11-7-11 information I received from Pat Gearin about 157Y:
"Brand number 157Y is a 7 year old male marked as a pup at St. George Reef, CA in 2004. He has 8 previous resights including once in 2005 in Northern California, 3 times in 2008 at Fish Rocks in Prince William Sound, AK, once at Castle Rock, CA in 2010 and once at Race Rocks and Carmanah Pt. BC. The last sighting of this Steller before yours was in July 2011 at Castle Rock, CA."

...Friday...one of the fellas from Thursday was there again today...and his brand looks clearer now......and then there was another...but this guy wasn't sitting at a very good angle to get a clear picture of his brand...but his number on the right is clearly a 5......and one more of him......I also noticed that he looked quite different from the others...a different kind of coat...
...added 11-7-11 information from Pat Gearin about 09 and 05: "The two sea lions with 005 and 009 brands were marked in the Columbia River near Bonneville Dam in 2010."

...and then there was another...this is 14Y...he looks like he has a bird sitting on top of his head, but he really doesn't!

...added 11-7-11 information received from Pat Gearin:
"14Y is a 9 year old male marked at St. George Reef, CA as a pup in 2002. He has been sighted 10 times prior to your resight including once at St. George Reef in 2002, in 2005 at Tatoosh island, WA, in August 2008 at Pachena Pt. and Barrier Rocks, BC, in 2009 at Patrick's Pt., CA and in 2011 3 times at Phoca Rock in the Columbia River from march through May and also twice at Whale Rocks in August. "...it was about 2 weeks ago that 16Y was over at Race Rocks...

...I'll send these off to the Branding folks and hope to learn more about these specific ones...added 11-7-11 - and you see that I got some great information - thanks Pat!

...okay, back to whales...no Resident killer whales yesterday or today...

...but today Friday was pretty awesome!...here's how it went...even though I decided not to go out on the Western Explorer at 8 a.m. this morning...Ivan calls, not more than 15 minute off the dock..."Already?"...I thought to myself...they had come across two humpback whales heading south in San Juan Channel!
...off and running I was, as these two humpbacks were approaching the bottom of San Juan Channel...so there I was at 9a.m...looking up the Channel from Cattle Pt. ...that little dark dot just on the other side of the point is one of the humpbacks...(click on images to enlarge)...they zigged and zagged...moving very slowly and they looked more to be goofing around than anything...
...it was a mom and calf...though they were far away, at one point I could see Steller sea lion flippers and humpback pecs and flukes in the air at the same time and in the same place...right before I saw that I kept hearing a strange sound...Ivan told me it was the calf trumpeting...I'd never heard that before...but I have now...

...as they emerged from the far side of Goose Island...Humpback whales here?!!...the whales hadn't made it to the bottom end of the Channel when I left to go get on the Peregrine of Maya's Westside Charters...we headed down island and by then the two humpbacks had made it out of the Channel and were slowly moving westish...

...and we were about to get really lucky...the calf began to play around......there is a lot of peachy coloration on the calf's fluke and pec...I wonder if that is similar to the peachy coloration of a baby killer whales......the calf did this raising up as if to arch his/her back to dive, but instead would plop down on the surface... he/she did that a lot in the morning, so now I got to see it a bit more clearly......and many times made the trumpeting sound...when doing that...
...we even got a mini spyhop!...playing in a kelp bed too......then mom BCX1057 and calf surfaced side by side...and it looked like play time was over...

or was it?.........let's try that spinning thing again......oops.....need to try that again......and again...
...and again......we were all in awe of the size of this CALF...mom wasn't breaching...it was only the calf...

...mom's tail, on the underside, is almost completely black and the calf's has a lot of white and actually yellowishness to it...

...what a day! you just never know how your day will begin and end...awesome...

...since the killer whales of the Southern Resident Community have most likely gone back out a few days ago, instead of continuing in...or they came in and went north (doubt it) in a resting mode - completely silent...they've done that before, but we'll just have to wait to find out...

11-1-11 Killer Whales? This Is Becoming Humpback Territory!

2011-11-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, November 1st

...out on Maya's Westside Charters today...and at this point we were hoping to see a whale...killer whale of the transient kind would do...killer whale of the Resident kind would do...how about a humpback or two instead...

...and who were they but Split Fin and Split Fluke. I learned today from Mark that both of these were calves in 2006......now look at that size and they are only 5 years old- yikes!...according to the fact sheet on the American Cetacean Society web page humpbacks reach sexual maturity at 6 - 10 years...
...I searched more to find when they reach full size...it is suggested that they 'reach full size a little later after they reach sexual maturity'... and females reach sexual maturity at age 5, or thereabouts...so these two, male or female may still have a bit of growing yet to do!

...Split Fluke......Split Fin......already having seen these two...and she or he gave us just enough markings...of course we saw the reason why this one is called Split Fin......and at every angle the split looks different...

...I had been told that it's only females who come in to these waters...but learning that these two are so young, I wonder if they could be males...males who would still be considered kids, since they haven't reached sexual maturity yet...once again, more questions than answers!

...we may have to wait to see if one day one or both show up with a calf...sort of like with some of the Residents...take Spock K-20 for example...it was thought, because of the size and shape of her dorsal fin that she was a male...and everyone believed that until she showed up with her baby Comet K-38 in December 2004!

...no sightings of the Residents since we saw them last Saturday heading west...

...we also saw Split Fin and Split Fluke on that day...then they were spotted the next two days, and again today...the other humpbacks may have moved on, but these two are hanging out together...

...my favorite picture from today...now how can one be exhaling at the same time they are sounding!...there must be plenty of food for these two and several other humpbacks to have been in these waters for such an extended period of time...

...now if only the salmon were here...

10-30-11 Ever Hear of Menhaden?

2011-10-31T07:23:00.001-07:00

I received an email from Greenpeace this morning...Menhaden? What's that?

I went and looked it up...here's a description from the Maryland DNR-fisheries Service...

...they are only on the east coast...and they don't affect the killer whales out here...hum...on a greater grand scale, might they?

...it's a little fish that isn't good enough to put on a plate to eat, but it's what you are getting when you 'down the hatch' a fish oil pill in order to get your fish oil dose.

...over fished...heard that word before...and since I have been watching the salmon eating killer whales and their 'issues' of getting enough fish to eat, it made me want to see what Menhaden was all about...

here are a few links...
Catch Limits Debated for the Most Important Fish in the Sea!

Menhaden might just get some help...

Take action now to stop the continued depletion of these little unknown yet important fish; important to the ecosystem, because without a healthy ecosystem everything suffers, including humans. Giving these fish the chance to increase in number now, instead of waiting until they are more depleted, is just common sense. Too much overfishing has caused greater long term problems, something that many people don't stop to look at. A bit of sacrifice now by reducing catch will have 10 fold the benefits later. Think out 7 generations ahead. Because once they're gone, they're gone. You can't bring them back.

Here's a link to send in your comments! Comments must be submitted prior to November 2nd!

Thanks, and all the fish and whales thank you too!

10-29-11 In the Middle of Nowhere...On the Off Chance...

2011-10-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 29th

...I had been listening to the Port Townsend hydrophones hoping to hear the whales sometime, whenever that might be...
...and I got lucky...Saturday morning shortly before 9a.m I heard them...they must be coming out of Puget Sound...

...out on the Western Prince at noon, we headed toward Hein Bank...the water was flat calm...hoping we'd be able to spot them coming up...another boat was way far south of us...nothing...

...so Capt. Pete thought he'd try the hydrophones, but no one expected to hear anything...boy were we surprised!...immediately we heard the whales and they were loud!

...they were not far away but we just couldn't see them... it was crazy!...crazy?...yes, it's just not a common thing to hear the whales on the hydrophones like that...out in the middle of nowhere, not knowing where they are, and just taking a chance - WOW!

...everyone on the boat was scanning for the whales...and after several minutes Chris found them...about 2 miles away, on the edge of some heavy haze!

...they were headed out...like in bye-bye...but they weren't moving very fast...and were foraging along the way...
...DoubleStuf J-34 was one of the trailing whales...he was fishing......as we watched he met up with his mom Oreo J-22...Cookie J-38, Rhapsody J-32, Polaris J-28 and Start J-46 were in the vicinity too......then two humpbacks were spotted just off on the other side of the boat!

...it was Split Fin BCZ0298 and BCX1068 - 1068 has a big V cut in her left fluke...
I say 'her' because I've been told there are only females here and no males...so okay...

...not sure which one......up...up......and over......and then......a humpback cartwheel!
...the humpbacks were heading in the same direction as the Residents...

...now here was another pectoral fin...check out all the barnacles on this one......so here it is October 29th...and the Residents are right on 'schedule'...

...of course they'll be back...and now we wait...

10-27-11 How Big Is That Mouth?

2011-10-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 27th

...it's sort of like the killer whales...just when you think it can't get any better...oh, my!

...that's how it was with these humpbacks today...

...now the Residents were still on the Lime Kiln hydrophones, very faintly, during the 'dark-thirty' hours of the morning...but that was it...

...out on Maya's Westside Charters we headed over to Victoria...or somewhere near there...like Race Rocks......again!

...there had been several humpbacks spotted in several areas around Race Rocks...we looked and looked...and finally I got to call out, "humpback at 3 o'clock!"...it's always great fun to spot one...and this time there were two...

...they were sounding with about 5 to 8 minutes between surfacings...one was BCY0160...that's from the ID book Humpback Whales of the inland water of Washington State and Southern British Coumbia by Mark Malleson and the Center for Whale Research.....and the other...this pic was taken through the window of Capt. Jim's boat......this is BCZ0180...and her markings are very deceptive for the novice (me)...she looks to have almost all white...but then look at this pic...you see more of her flukes and look at all that dark area!......it's all about the angle...same goes for the killer whales too...

...we headed back toward offshore from Victoria where there were two more humpbacks......this time I yelled out, "that's her mouth!!!"...zoomed in...
...I could hardly believe what I was seeing...I've only seen it on tv before...but I was looking down the throat of a humpback whale...glad my camera was closer than me!
...okay so here's the rest...(not sure of the correct terminology here)...the lower jaw is open wide with the pleats expanding......and zoomed in......and more expansion......a closer look at the baleen......and that mouth......now beginning to close up......ahhh...so after she disappeared from the surface, that turmoil of water, that then appeared at the surface, was the result of her pushing the water out after closing up her massive mouth!

...now I don't have to go to Hawaii, nor to Alaska...I can see it all right here...

...last year...on two different occasions...check these out...haven't see it this year yet, but I oh, so remember it last year...right here off the west side of San Juan Island...

...lunge feeding humpbacks... encounter...

...and a humpback breaching encounter, with Cattle Pt. Lighthouse in the background...

...and here's some humpback video I took in 2008 - very active that day!

...those hydrophones have surely been quiet...that's because the killer whales are down in Puget Sound right now...only they know when they will come back out of there...soon I hope...

...and if they are finding good salmon to eat...then that's a good thing!

10-25-11 Multiple Whale Species Today!

2011-10-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 25th...more humpbacks and where?...of course Race Rocks...too cool...it is an awesome place to go see...out on Maya's Westside Charters, we were off again...I wondered if we'd see some of the same humpbacks...

...one has a nickname of Split Fin......Split Fin and friend...her split is easily recognized......this whale has a great v-notch......and this one...oh, wait a minute...that's a Black and White ! Yea! The T30s were spotted...this is T30A...the rest of the family was there too...
...then on our way back toward home...I spotted two humpbacks, so we stopped to see them...
...only one sounded......but a few unusual pics...
..a 'nose'...aka blow hole......and someone's partial head/face......as I was at the computer this evening...at about 9pm I began hearing faint Southern Resident calls over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...very faint...then I heard them on and off until about midnight...
...we all wonder where they had been for the last couple days...
...I guess they really are 'still around'...somewhere...now to find them tomorrow...

10-22/23-11 Happy Humpbacks!

2011-10-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday and Sunday October 22nd and 23rd

...the orcas have been showing us, that yes, it really is almost winter mode...meaning that we are seeing them less often...
...but what we have been seeing, and a lot more of, are humpbacks...and sometimes quite close...

Saturday
...a single humpback was spotted about a mile off Kellett Bluff near Snug Harbor...she started going north but soon flipped and continued down Haro Strait...Capt. Craig was driving for Maya's Westside Charters that afternoon and we certainly didn't have very far to go...like just about a mile or two was all!Sunday
...we had to go a bit further...with Capt. Craig at the helm, we encountered more than one humpback...out near Race Rocks, and the lighthouse......we encountered two humpbacks out there...
...humpback #1......humpback #2......they are so big...... we went to watch three others...on our way we could see more blows off in the distance...it was quite amazing... 8 humpbacks that day ! that was my record...so far...
..two of the three we saw...humpback #3......humpback #4......now I know there is one other, but I just don't have an ID for that one......the one on the far right is the calf...
...these humpbacks sure seem to be enjoying it here...several have been around for a while now...good eating...

...all day we wondered where the orcas had gone to...they had been spending a lot of time in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and near Race Rocks too...but just not today...no where to be seen...hum...

...I know they are going to leave at some point...but I don't think it is just yet...at least not completely...

10-21-2011 Back For A Quick Visit

2011-10-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 21st

Family Togetherness
The five members of the L-21s
Barely showing are L-110 and L-115

...oh my, what a day it was...it began with rain...hum...and I almost stayed home...glad I didn't...

...there were humpbacks off Victoria again and we knew that Southern Resident killer whales were out near Race Rocks the day before, because we were there...so...out on Maya's Westside Charters and off in the direction of whales...which ones?...we knew only of humpbacks so far today...

...it was a bit rainy on and off while on our way...and the visibility wasn't like it is on a clear day...but the seas were calm...then Capt. Jim got the call - many, many whales with the humpbacks! Yoo-hoo!...now to find them!

...we didn't ever see the humpbacks but we certainly saw the killer whales...here's a sample of the 'thick air'......but that was okay the whales were here!...the whales had been much closer to Vancouver Island than thought so we had gone farther west and headed back east to get to where they were...so our approach was from the west and the whales were ahead of us...
...we could see a large line at about our 1:00...and another large group off our 3:00...both groups being way, way far away......seeing these groups I knew there were way more than the 34 whales we had seen yesterday...
...and they let us know...
...Slick J-16 and her three offspring Mike J-26, Alki J-36 and Echo J-42 were traveling together...
...a ways behind them was the K Klik - remember them from last summer?...Cappuccino K-21, his sister Raggedy K-40, and Opus K-16 and her boy Sonata K-35...

...the misty air made it doubly difficult for clear images of the groups in the distance...but I kept taking pics anyway with the hope of getting some IDs from them...one group off in the distance was Group B, with some added friends...Group B (my name for them) are the J11s, J17s and J22s and with them were many other whales...Blackberry J-27, Polaris J-28 and Lulu L-53...ah, Lulu...more L pod whales were surely present......and then we had a surprise...as I was taking pictures of those in the distance, several whales surfaced coming right at us and all we could do was stay right where we were...and Ballena L-90... ...and her mom, Baba L-26... ...were two of those whales!! Ballena has been a whale of concern for the last few months...and all I can say is that today she was in the middle of the group, surfacing and diving right with the others and she and her mom even came back around and passed us by again with a couple other friends of theirs Racer L-72 and Fluke L-105...it was absolutely amazing!

...then they moved off...Cookie J-38 and Gaia L-78...what a combination!... up ahead as we all headed toward 'home' - ours and theirs - way cool!...and the best part was that Ballena appeared to be back to normal, at least while I was watching...there was NO lagging behind...

...the L2s - Grace L-2, Gaia L-78 and Wave Walker L-88 were present, and with them were 'the Cookies' - Oreo J-22, DoubleStuf J-34, Cookie J-38 and Rhapsody J-32...

...Crewser L-92 was traveling with the L21s and the L4s......of course the whales were well mixed together...at one point, with them were Spieden J-8, Onyx L-87, Shachi J-19 and Eclipse J-41...the J17s...and more...so many whales!
...the K13s were over there too...Scoter K-25, Cali K-34, baby K-44 and mom's or grandma's fin tip......after seeing Ballena and Baba the first time, I saw them later, mixed in with the large group...so they were over there where Crewser and others were...still appearing to show no signs of lagging during the times I saw her...we were not following her, so I don't know her 'every' move...but I was glad to see her more than once during the trip... 1:33, 1:53 and 2:01 are the times my pictures say...

....and then a whale breached way out ahead of everyone else...luckily she breached again...it was Granny J-2!...the whales continued heading toward San Juan Island...Trial Island was in the background as we left the whales...

...this time Granny J-2 was was with the L54s, Tanya L-5 and Nyssa L-84 and whoever else wasn't at the surface at the moment...(the K12s !)
...Nyssa, Tanya, Ino L-54, Indigo L-100, Coho L-108, and that fin tip on the far side is Granny......and then, a few moments later, baby L-117 and Granny......I did see baby K-44, Sooke L-112, Mystic L-115, Finn L-116, baby L-117, Saturna K-43...and the J pod kids as well...the only whales I didn't see were the L-12s...

...here's lookin' at us...of course that's Granny!...they came across toward San Juan Island...but didn't come up island as far as I could tell...
...I began hearing them very faintly on the Lime Kiln hydrophones shortly before 9PM and intermittently until about 10:30PM

...what a day!...thank you whales!

...are you wiling to do something, make one change in your life to help the whales and our oceans?

...what are your fish eating habits? hum...

...I'm not one for self promotion...but this time, I just have to...
...a must have for every whale lover...'see' the whales using your auditory senses...
...I just got an email comment from a fella who told me that this CD is amazing - wow!

10-20-11 A New Restaurant Has Opened!

2011-10-20T23:48:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 20th

...would we see them again today?...oh, of course I hoped so...once again the whales were foraging south of Race Rocks and slowly 'drifting' west...hum...

...out on Maya's Westside Charters we headed that way, knowing there were several humpback whales in the area...

...we got there! baby K-44 next to his mom...he is growing so fast!...then we saw Riptide J-30 after something......gee, I wonder what......as he was lunging this way and that...Se-Yi-Chn J-45, Riptide's little brother, popped up right in the middle of where Riptide had been...he's getting the look of a 3 yr. old...well he's almost that!...the whales were spread for miles...Shachi J-19 and Eclipse J-41 surfaced with Moby J-44 in the middle of them......interesting to see who Shachi and Eclipse are with...just about every encounter they are with some little kids...the other day it was K-44...

...we headed over to see the humpbacks...and just as we were arriving......I hadn't ever seen 4 humpbacks at the same time...2 and 2, all within a couple hundred yards...2 would surface several times and then fluke...several seconds later the other 2 would do the same...so many 'money shots' as they call them!...Victoria, B.C. in the background............even in the bland lighting of the day, their blows showed up...this blow looks like it was about to form its own cloud!...heading straight for the city......and now...down for the count......the humpbacks are just all over the place out off of Victoria right now...it is so fabulous to have so many in these waters at the same time...each year there seem to be more and more showing up...since about 2004, each October seems to increase in the numbers of humpbacks showing up here...they must be talking to their friends out there, cause the party is growing !

...now with J pod and friends still in the area...will they continue to drift to the west as they had a couple days ago or will we see them again tomorrow?

...just like the humpbacks, it seems the whales have located a new seasonal restaurant!

Brand new, nothing like it, Audio CD (click for more details)

This Audio CD is NOT about hydrophone listening but about what you experience when you see the whales...only this time you will have to 'see' them using your ears.

Recordings were made both from land and from sea.

10-19-11 Back Again!

2011-10-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 19th

...that was short...In Coming was the word this morning- yea! The whales hadn't gone all the way out...and they were actually heading in!

...we headed out on Maya's Westside Charters and didn't have far to go...the whales had made it across from Discovery Island and were heading for the west side of San Juan and up...

...Blackberry J-27......a little while later Mako J-39 was surfacing next to him......off in the distance we could see some of the J22s and J17s...
...Oreo J-22 and Polaris J-28......some of the youngsters of those family groups......and of course Notch J-47...he's such a riot just about all the time!...but that didn't last very long...they flipped!...so we got to see them come back...all of J Pod. Onyx L-87 and even the K13s including baby K-44 of course!

here are a few...Spock K-20, Comet K-38 with Deadhead K-27......this was cool...Shachi J-19, baby K-44 in the middle, and Shachi's offspring Eclipse J-41......Spieden J-8 and Onyx L-87 surprised us!...and Mako J-39, during one of the sun breaks of the day!
...it was oh so nice to see them again!

...if you are missing the whales...check out my brand new Audio CD titled They'll Take Your Breath Away!...It will have you feeling like the whales are right with you listening to their blows as they pass by...It's really cool.
Everyone who has heard it has bought it...I am very excited to be able to offer it now for sale.

...the whales will be where the salmon are...
...their locations have been really interesting this month...

10-19-11 Where Have All Those Days Gone?

2011-10-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday-Tuesday, October 16-18th

...well the residents have been very challenging of late...after they had gone north on the 13th they weren't seen again for a few days...
...there are so many options...did they come back down undetected in the night?...did they go down Rosario Strait in the night and out to the west without being seen?...hum...
...AND then there is always Trincomali Channel...back in 2008 here's what the whales did...(that's a link to that post)...and that was the first time many had ever heard of the whales being up in there!
...so ever since then, when the whales have gone north and not shown up for a day or two, I always start suggesting Trincomali Channel!

...on Sunday (10/16/11) afternoon they were spotted coming south through Porlier Pass, which is at the north end of Galiano Island...of course when we got the call on Maya's Westside Charters we were watching humpback whales off of Constance Bank, just off of Victoria...a mom and a calf.........a shadow of mom's tail fluke on the calf......that night they - that's Js, Onyx L-87 and the K13s - came down the west side...at10PM...and they seemed to be not in any hurry to go anywhere...

Monday
...no word on Js and friends, but it was most likely they were to the south or had headed west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca....we went to see some humpbacks and learned that the 'black and whites' were several miles west of Race Rocks foraging, and slowly heading away from us....NOOO!... :)
...we had a great encounter with whale BCZ0298 from Mallard's humpback book......and since there was only one humpback on this encounter.........this was the ID confirmation part......we hoped that Js and friends would turn and come back toward our way...but it was not to be...they were still continuing west when we left the area...

Tuesday
...guess what we did on Maya's Charters on Tuesday?...same as Sunday and Monday!...and this time we saw two humpbacks......one was BCZ0298... I think that's the one they call Split Fin......the other has a large tear on her left fluke...so I'll have to look in the book to see if I can figure it out......we took a quick look see at Race Rocks..always an awesome place to go...that is when we end up that far out there......Stellers and California sea lions all mixed together enjoying the sunshine in mid October!
...so now we're into the 'surprise' mode again...waiting...just waiting...when will J, Ks and or Ls appear?

...don't you just love the suspense!

10-13-11 CONTACT!

2011-10-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 13th

...faint squeaks on the hydrophones...well, you know I had to go looking...

...glad I did...it was a beautiful morning - sunshine and after many gray days the contrasts of color appeared to be more striking...which ended up playing a role in helping me locate the whales...

...there was a tanker, with a tug not far behind, heading up Haro Strait and they seemed to be about a mile offshore...
...on the other side of that tanker by about 2 miles were some splashes... at first thought it could be Dall's porpoise...and then...and then! CONTACT!

...so now the question that I always struggle with - do I stay on shore or go on the boat?... I'm just plain spoiled and grateful for every minute of it...well, being October chances are...hum...I'll go on the boat...I watched the whales in groups coming across and they looked to be heading toward the island and UP island...but hey, they're wild, so you know...

...off to town to hop on the Western Prince...we came up over the top and met the whales just outside of Snug Harbor (usually where I come out of on Maya's Westside Charters) as they were heading up island...a new pattern has emerged this month...interesting...
...they appeared to be pretty spread out...I saw Granny J-2 way up ahead of us as she hugged the shore line at Kellett Bluff...other whales were way inside as well...
...the K13s were farther offshore...Deadhead K-27 and baby K-44 - who is now just about 3 1/2 months old......Spieden J-8 and her younger 'charge' Onyx L-87......there was a group coming up, offshore...and way in the distance I could see DoubleStuf J-34 and Blackberry J-27 - both were fishing - big boys who need lots of salmon everyday to stay healthy...the group that was a bit closer than those distant boys......there was Blackberry's sister Tsuchi J-31, Polaris J-28 and Star J-46 to name a few......this tail slap was rather interesting...notice the curved tail flukes...one might think they belonged to a male...we were debating...but they belonged to Tsuchi!...yes, it's a busy place with big ships...would they try some surfing today???...nope...instead it looked like they stopped for a bite to eat......the whales continued on up...
...but that's not all...evidently there were some others who had made a right hand turn and gone down island...so that explains that signature L pod call I heard earlier...

...so whales, where were you on Friday?

...north, I'm guessing at the Fraser perhaps...

...hope the salmon buffet table is loaded for you guys!

...what are you doing in your everyday life to make sure the whales have plenty of salmon to eat and clean water in which to raise their families?...Every bit helps to make a difference...

10-12-11 Raindrops and Sunshine

2011-10-12T23:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 12th

...it all started today when I walked in the door sometime after 10 this morning...not expecting to hear the whales on the Orca Sound hydrophones, not yet anyway, but there they were!

...yea! they're coming back down...they had come in yesterday morning...well they woke me up at 4:57 a.m. with faint calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones that got louder over the next couple hours, and by 7:30a.m. they were up at Open Bay where they fished for 3 hours!...I watched them from County Park...I got a peek of them from Snug Harbor...but that was all...and then they continued on up island...last I heard they were at the mouth of the Fraser River...hopefully feasting on salmon...

...back to today...
...they came down island past Lime Kiln Lighthouse...some a mile or more offshore and others not very far from shore at all...two of the kids of the J17 family group......I noticed several ships...these two were passing - minimum distance between them is a mile and guess who emerged after the ships passed each other...see that boat?...that's the Beam Reach Marine Science and Sustainability School boat...wonder if they had their hydrophones deployed for that 'pass by'! (click to enlarge the picture)...these ships loaded with those box cars of freight reminded me of the terrible disaster in New Zealand... ...I hopped on the Western Explorer (the zodiac of the Western Prince)...and off we went to see the whales...by the time we got to where they were, they were between Discovery and Trial Islands, heading west...Discovery Island lighthouse in the background......the K13s were in their group...the J16s were in a group up ahead of Group B - the J11s, J17s and J22s...there was a group off from us and that was Granny's group...

...three boys, three different fin sizes...one is 20 years old, one is 13 and the other is 8......it appeared that only the K13s were present, but none of the other K pod family groups...

...at one point a cargo ship came barreling through...the K13s were on the far side of it...as the ship got closer they began to change their direction...to get out of the way perhaps?...hum...no, they actually turned and it looked like they were lining up to parallel the ship......we just waited and watched to see if they would ride the wake...since we had the ship between us and the whales, we held our breath for a few 'tense' moments hoping to get a glimpse of what the whales might do after that ship passed......one was speed swimming with the tip of his/her dorsal fin cutting through the surface at high speed - amazing...I tried to get some video but we were in the wake of that ship too!

...on our way back Ivan spotted a splash in the distance...zoom!
...yesterday there were 7 whales I saw late in the day off False Bay...they were residents from their behaviors...and by their numbers and who was traveling with who it seemed like it may have been the L2s and the L54s...but that's just a guess...
...so today when Ivan saw that splash I was hoping for the L2s and the L54s...
...but instead it was the T18s! WOW!...I'll take it...T19B is so huge! that was at 4:30pm......at about 7:30pm I heard Transient calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...a friend was at the park and heard their blows...

...so J Pod, Onyx L-87 and the K13s were headed west...
...the 4 transients were out there somewhere...

...will we see any of them tomorrow?...it's always iffy when the whales are headed west late in the day...
...Skagit K-13 and Scoter with the large, tall building in the background...that is the building we can see from the park and tell visitors that's where Victoria B.C. is......oh, and I almost forgot to mention...it was raining a bit when we left Friday Harbor...when we arrived to watch the whales the sun was shining beautifully...when we were just about back to Friday Harbor the raindrops began again...were we lucky or what!

10-7/8-11 The L12s Morphed Into Js and Ks!

2011-10-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Friday/Saturday, October 7th and 8th

...catch up...Wednesday and Thursday none of the Southern Residents were seen...they'd evidently gone out toward the open ocean...

...but Friday that all changed - Js, Ks came in and went up...Alki J-36 looks like she's giving herself a slap up-side her head!......the Dall's porpoise were in full form, zooming this way and that...they seemed to be 'harassing' the whales...not sure who the whale is next to that Dall's porpoise......the Dall's are so fast it's difficult to catch a picture of them when they are surfacing and leaving a rooster tail of water...and sometimes I only get the splash...well in this case just about 4 rooster tails at once!...Mike J-26...the Dall's were around him too, but I just wasn't quick enough to get a pic......and Cookie J-38 and a Dall's porpoise up ahead of him......I'm always looking for baby K-44...and who did I find him surfacing with but Comet K-38!...then on the next surfacing it was Comet K-38 and Grandma to both of these fellas, Skagit K-13......interesting dorsal fin resemblance, eh?...they won't be similar for long because Comet's will sprout on one day...
...next surfacing was Grandma Skagit and baby K-44......and yes, they actually went up island and continued on up...

...someone said the L12s (and maybe the L2s) had come in but stayed south...I don't know because I didn't see them...but I do remember seeing a whale watching boat way south when all the others had gone north...
~~
...but that information set the stage for Saturday morning...and by the end of the day I think a lot of us were laughing at ourselves, at least I know I was...

...whales were spotted to the south this morning and...it sort of went like this...
-it could be the L12s and the L2s...but maybe there are more...
-well if it's the L12s and the L2s then there are 6 tall male dorsal fins and 5 females and one kid...
-if it's Js and Ks then there would be a whole, whole, whole lot more animals...
-the only whale I thought I saw was Onyx L-87, but he travels with J pod...hum...
-everyone was saying that they had L pod whales they were looking at...okay...so I had to go with that because I was way too far away...

...so if it's L pod whales then that had to be Skana L-79...but he doesn't usually lead a group...and the other male must be Solstice L-89, but then where was their mom Spirit L-22?...they were so far away...I was just guessing...and of course I guessed wrong!

...the whales, who were already a great distance from any good viewing area were heading further offshore...I figured someone will get there and figure it out...but it wasn't long before the whales turned and came back in and slowly began heading up island...

...I get a radio alert from a friend that the K13s with baby K-44 had just passed by his boat and were heading up island...so Ks were here...hum...

...but when the whales got closer to Lime Kiln, the first calls I heard were J pod calls...so Js were here...so that was Onyx I had seen early on...

...when they got closer those two who I had decided had to be Skana and Solstice, well they morphed into Blackberry J-27 and Lobo K-26 !
...Blackberry and his sister Tsuchi J-31......that's Lobo K-26 far offshore and his mom Lea K-14 and Kelp K-42......some whales were a mile or more offshore...maybe some L pod whales were way out there...but I'm beginning to wonder if maybe the L12s (and maybe the L2s-if they had been here) had gone out last night...hum...I know there were two humpback whales far offshore going up island too!

...and I'm wondering if the K Klik whales (Capuccino K-21, Raggedy K-40, Opus K-16 and Sonata K-35) are here with the rest of K pod...I think that maybe they aren't...sometimes they will go off with L pod and show up later...I did see some members of all the other K pod family groups...and some members of all of the J pod family groups...and of course Onyx L-87...

...and again today they went up island...they were slow about it...the J14s were the last of the closer in whales to pass by...Riptide J-30 was doing some foraging......there were a few J pod whales behind them and someone was making a very interesting call...

...and on up island they went...but for how long?...hum...

...a mystery again!

...as long as they are finding lots to eat they can be as mysterious as they want!

10-4/5-11 Tuesday Was A Stormy Day!

2011-10-05T13:24:00.001-07:00

Tuesday and Wednesday, October 4-5th

Wednesday
...it's the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday and I may be hearing things...things that trick me into thinking those are the whales I'm hearing, when in fact it's probably that squeaky dock or kelp down there on the Port Townsend hydrophones...hum...and lots of times there are some strange noises from there that are not the whales...so who knows?...only the whales, that's for sure...

Tuesday
...the other night when the whales were causing a 'ruckus' on both the Lime Kiln and the Orca Sound hydrophones...here's a bit of that 'ruckus'...

...I don't know about you, but it sure makes me smile when I hear them like this!

...well, they really did go north on Sunday night after all that ruckus...and they stayed up there - somewhere - until Tuesday at noon, when they were seen at Turn Pt. coming down...

...by the time they got to Lime Kiln the seas were really bad and getting worse...
...they were vocalizing over the hydrophones...but most were so far from shore...and their calls were not of the 'ruckus' level...

...I did manage to get a few pictures of Lulu L-53......others I could barely see the tip of their fins, so I went up higher to see if maybe I might be able to see a few others...
...lucky to get a pic of Deadhead K-27 and youngest member of the Community, her baby K-44......and Skagit K-13......a few others I was able to ID...but most of the whales were heading 'down island'...except this time 'down island' meant down the east side of Discovery Island!...that's what I was told, as there was no way to see them from the 'down island' side of San Juan Island with those seas...

...now we wait for them to show up again...

9/30-10/2-11 Those Accents Can Fool You Sometimes!

2011-10-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Friday -Sunday, September 30th-October 2nd

Friday
...a brief encounter with some J and K pod whales...they had stayed south all day and Granny J-2, Lea K-14 and a few others came up to the lighthouse at almost dark...and then they turned and went back south...

Saturday
...whales were reported heading into Puget Sound...but one whale was spotted several miles south of San Juan Island...he morphed into it being the L2s - Grace L-2, Gaia L-78 and Wave Walker L-88...

...out of my range for the day...but then at about 4:30 or so I heard an L pod call on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...off I went to the park...and there were Grace L-2 and Gaia L-78 heading up past the light...they were far off shore...but then I saw a female and little one and got really curious because since I had been out of the loop all afternoon I didn't know for sure who it was...traveling parallel to the female and baby, much farther offshore was Wave Walker......it took a while but after hearing Ino's inhale sound - sounds like a flute - I had confirmation it was her and L-117......I saw a couple others down island and went to investigate...Nyssa L-84 - wow - it was all of the L pod whales (except Onyx of course) who had been with Js and Ks the day before...they had stayed here...

...they eventually all came back down island...which leads to Sunday...

Sunday
...well they didn't get too far...when someone saw whales at Eagle Pt....a very few minutes later whales were reported at False Bay...since I was already at the park I thought I would go that direction...but I didn't get too far in my car when I saw whales at Land Bank...it was about 10:30...and who were they but Gaia and Grace...far from shore, but unmistakable with their open saddles on the right and their distinct fin shapes...
...Grace...the gulls looked hungry......the others came up too...
Tanya L-5......Nyssa L-84......Indigo L-100 and his little brother Coho L-108......same 9 whales as the day before...this time closer together...they kept on going north...quite a distance from shore...it took them hours just to get to Kellett Bluff, which is maybe 5 miles north...and by mid afternoon they flipped and came back south...
...Gaia doing some fishing......Ino and her kids were the last to pass by the lighthouse and they too were doing a lot of fishing on the way down...Ino...Vocalizations that occurred...
...one very interesting thing is that on Saturday and Sunday both, there were some distinct K pod signature calls - the kitten call - they sounded like, but clearly no K pod whales were present...I know they mimic each other but they have different accent to the calls...and they are difficult to detect...

..and there was at least one very unusual call - to me anyway...

...here those calls are together: the very unusual call is first and then added to the clip are two kitten calls, as they occurred - in quick succession...there may have been others...

...as I have been trying to post this, the whales - these 9, the L12s- who came in today and Js and Ks (and Onyx L-87 of course)...(well it's dark but they were all heading in the same direction earlier, so I imagine they met up) have been causing a 'ruckus' on the hydrophones - Lime Kiln and Orca Sound...

9-29-11 Snippets

2011-09-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 29th

...I could hardly believe that this morning was just about a repeat of yesterday, only better...

...6:30 a.m. calls 'all of a sudden' on the Lime Kiln Hps...these were K pod calls and they weren't that faint...it was as if someone had turned on a switch and they started 'talking'...

...on my way to the park I kept wondering if I had missed them coming back south...only to find that when I got there, no I hadn't...

...here's a taste of the early morning...sorry for the shakiness...

...I watched them come down and past...as you can see from the video clip some came in right in front of me...and my cell phone started beeping in my pocket!
...Cappuccino K-21...it was almost still too early for my camera......there was a long lull and then others were coming down too...Blackberry J-27...after a salmon......'Thwack!' went the sound of a cartwheel, even though she was really far offshore......'Thwack!'...again! Rhapsody J-32......and then farther on down...Discovery Island and the Olympic Mtns......out on Maya's Westside Charters for an afternoon with the whales...
...they were heading northwest and that meant they were heading for Discovery Island and out....they were steadily moving along, when it seemed that all of a sudden they stopped...
...and they played around a bit......they then decided to come back to the island...Wave Walker L-88 and his mom, Grace L-2 were traveling together a short distance behind Gaia L-78......then they all got together...close family, eh?......as they approached the island...Mt. Baker, Cattle Pt. light and Wave Walker......moving on up...South Beach......and off in the distance a breach...I guess they were glad they stayed and so were we...

...the sport fishing boats are out in force....
....that must mean something...

9-28-11 Location, Location, Location

2011-09-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 28th

...just finishing up that short transient call clip from the prior night...I turn off the recorder and what do I hear on the Orca Sound hydrophones! yikes!...
...the Lime Kiln HPs had stopped working at 7:02, so I had switched to OS...
...I get to the park and...nothing...could I have missed them?...hum...
...I tried the hydrophones again and they were working...I could hear some faint calls...

...and the calls continued...I figured their location might be over near Discovery Island, but not on the Haro Strait side of it...I just couldn't see a whale that far away...those calls on Orca Sound hydrophones...now how far southwest could they pick them up?...hum...

...Location, location, location...was the main word for the day...

...ever so slowly their calls got a bit louder...and by noon time I was at the right location to watch as they passed by the lighthouse...
...Granny J-2 was in the lead with Hy'Shqa J-37 behind her...I find that combination so interesting......of course next came Onyx L-87 and Spieden J-8...
...then there was a big lull...would those four flip and come back...or would the rest keep on coming?...

...a group approached and were close to shore...they dove not far south of the lighthouse...and were down for several minutes...Eclipse J-41 was the first to surface, after several minutes...she was past the lighthouse but was facing back south...then the others began to surface and I could see they basically hadn't gone anywhere...Eclipse came back and joined up with the group and they went on by...Shachi J-19, Eclipse J-41, Lea K-14, Kelp K-42, Lobo K-26, and Yoda K-36...
Lea and Kelp.....someone popped up......Lobo, after they passed by......the location I was in made it possible for me to watch individuals as they stopped in certain places to forage...they don't always stop in the same place, but today they definitely had one they seemed to like......but the sun wasn't in the right location for getting IDs...
...off in the distance I could see Deadhead K-27 and baby K-44 traveling with Spock K-20 and Comet K-38...
...Comet and baby K-44......I was in the right location to observe some interesting combinations...
Echo J-42 was with some K, J and L pod whales...Echo's family members were not with this group...

Sequim K-12 was in shore with Sekiu K-22...that's not so interesting, but Sequim's boy, Rainshadow K-37 was with...oh, my that's Coho L-108......and Rainshadow's little sister, Saturna K-43 was traveling with baby L-117, Coho's youngest sibling...this pic is the only one I have with the two of them and the previous pic gave me the ID info for Saturna, and the next pic after this one gave me the ID on L117......Coho's mom was around somewhere, but not with this group...these two little whales, well K-43 is about 1 3/4 years...and L-117 is not a year old yet...but no moms were in the immediate vicinity...in fact it appeared that Rainshadow and Coho were maybe the babysitters...

...more whales passed by offshore...and then another group came in close...one of the little kids did a roll off someone's back..
...that's Sonata K-35 and a little guy..........that's twice I've seen that in the last week!

...and they continued north...that too has been unusual for this season...

9-27-11 Relying on Vocalizations

2011-09-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 27th

We're All Here

...sometime when the whales are not here, I'm going to go back and listen to the audio tapes from yesterday afternoon...
...why?...
...I just wasn't convinced yesterday that they had all come back down, and I was basing that on mainly the of calls I was hearing - type and quantity...

...I was out on Maya's Westside Charters in the morning with Capt. Spencer...the whales were spread for miles...so to spot...DoubleStuf J-34 and Wave Walker L-88 soon after getting on scene, I knew they had...I heard from a friend that Cappuccino K-21 was spotted...so my suspicions from yesterday were wrong...
...DoubleStuf J-34......Wave Walker L-88......Alki J-36 was the first whale spotted...I haven't seen her in a while......the whales were heading up island, or so it seemed...so off the boat and on to the park...
...the whales were foraging, milling, and sort of moving north...probably more like the tide taking them...it took them three hours to get there...

...once again I needed to rely on their vocalizations as the whales were very far from shore and the sun (yes sun!) glare added to the challenge- ha!...lots of J and K signature calls...but I knew that Ls were in the vicinity too...yesterday it was mostly L pod calls and now today...hum...interesting...
...some ended up miles offshore and going back down...
...I stayed around long enough to see our next storm starting to move across from Vancouver Island...(I did darken the picture a bit so the hole in the clouds showed up better...and actually it didn't end up raining very much at all)...and some people have asked, "what do the whales do when there's a storm?"

...and while I was working last night at a bit after 7 pm I began hearing calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...they sure sounded like transient calls to me...they lasted intermittently for over a half hour...
...will post that piece later...just heard Resident calls...it's 7:30 a.m. Wed.....going to see if I can find them!!

...okay...here are the Transient vocals from Tuesday evening...

...found the Residents...and it took relying on vocalizations for a couple hours too!

9-25/26-11 Winter Storms in September?

2011-09-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday/Monday,September 25th/26th

...for two days it has been - and this is an understatement - winter-like stormy seas!
crazy, wild water...and trying to find whales is crazier with the wind and the rain...some of the wind gusts just about would knock a person over...

...the whales were 'In Coming' on Saturday...Sunday morning I thought I heard a 'squeak' on the hydrophones so I went looking...that was the beginning of a crazy day...
...saw a couple dorsal fins coming our way...two were at Deadman Bay just south of the park heading up...but the sea was so wild it was difficult to track them...
...a big fin had turned and was going down island...
...off to see if they could be seen again...
...ended up all the way at South Beach...the seas were even more wild there!
...was told the whales had moved off from Eagle going toward Hein...
...headed back up...
...get flagged down...'There's whales coming!"
...off to the park...
...run...
...the whales are porpoising north...
...STOP - I thought they were off Eagle heading to Hein...hum...
...there was a lot of...
...Wave Walker L88......Ophelia L-27 and Pooka L-106......Mega L-41 and Ocean Sun L-25 were the last two I saw going north...but they just weren't getting too far...they just went back and forth about a mile or two...Mega breached...well sorta......the seas calmed somewhat and the sun came out...and they came back down... Mega and Ocean Sun......Calypso L-94 and Cousteau L-113......Sequim K-12......Deadhead K-27 and baby K-44......I heard calls from all three pods as they came back down...I did see Mike J-26, Tahlequah J-35 and Notch J-47...there were many more...some were more than a mile offshore...they were going down island at the time...
...but no way knowing if everyone was there...perhaps a group had gone off down by Eagle...

Monday
...today the seas were worse than yesterday, and yesterday there were 8 and 9 footers out there...that's what I was told anyway...when I heard the whales on the Lime Kiln hydrophones at about 12:15...I was out the door - wind or rain didn' matter...
...I had missed some...but check out the seas along with some I did see...

...Cappuccino K-21......DoubleStuf J-34......Princess Angeline J-17 and Moby J-44......corner of the lighthouse and a tail slapping whale........this is interesting...first, a bird is in the way...that is Cousteau L-113 she looks like she is on her mother's back and is rolling off it............Mega...again he was the last I saw as they went north...
...what in the world is a ship doing out there in seas like this?......and another picture of the Lighthouse...had the whales not shown up I probably wouldn't have gone to the park for pictures......the whales had gone north...no more calls on either of the west side hydrophones...
...it was about 4:44 PM when I heard them coming back down...
...this time the wind had subsided a bit...the seas were only 2 and3 footers now...but it was pouring rain!...but by the time the whales got there the rain stopped, but no sunshine this time...darkening sky and late in the day...almost to the end of being able to take pics with a digital camera...
...Lulu L-53 was in the lead... - now get this: Kasatka L-82... and it looks like Sooke L-112 were with Lulu...a little ways behind and farther offshore was Nugget L-55 and Surprise! L-86, and it looked they had L-116 with them...go figure...
Kasatka and Sooke (I think)...I got another pic of this young one and the saddle was broad like Sooke's saddle patch is...so my best guess with the lighting challenges of the afternoon...

...I was about to walk to the other side of the lighthouse to see if anymore were coming...when a group surfaced in unison pretty close to shore, right in front of me and the only other people there...4 of us got quite a surprise - nice...
...from the left: Baba L-26, Racer L-72, Crewser and Fluke L-105...
...the last of the whales I saw were Skana L-79, Spirit L-22 and Solstice L-89...there were other farther offshore, but it just didn't look like enough to be everyone from earlier...

recap of today:
...at noonish today members of all 3 pods went north...

...when whales came back south at sixish I only saw L Pod whales..

...I didn't hear any J or K pod calls...they could have not been talking, eh?...but the L pod whales were quite chatty.....I remember listening for J and K calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones as I was watching the whales coming back down, but I don't remember hearing them, only L calls...

...I clipped these out of their calls, from the Orca Sound hydrophones, as they were coming back down......sounds like a J Pod call but to me it ends different...could this be an L pod mimick call?

and here's another...

...I'm still wondering if those Js and Ks continued north...hum...

...we'll have to wait and hope to see tomorrow!

9-21/22-11 Keeping Us Guessing

2011-09-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday and Thursday, September 21st/22nd

Wednesday
...Ts to the south...L12s to the south...Js, Ks, and the rest of Ls somewhere up north...
...it was the T30s who had shown up again...out on Maya's Westside Charters...we met up with the four of them as they were heading south of Hein Bank toward who knows...meandering this way and that...this is T30B on an overcast day......we turned and headed back to the island to see the L12s...back in their 'usual' travel pattern...Skana L-79 was offshore and the rest of them were in close to shore...they were headed up toward the park...but, as usual, they flipped and went back down island......his rake marks are still there...(on the leading edge of his dorsal fin)...Mega L-41...no rake on him......shortly before we got back to the harbor we learned that the rest of the whales were on their way down...so off to the park I went...they must have been just around the corner, cause it wasn't long before I began to see them...
...two or three were porpoising...this is Lulu L-53 for sure......I think this is Deadhead K-27...(eye patches are different)...Scoter K-25 was there too, but I only got a pic of him after he had stopped porpoising...
...everyone else was so far out they were even smaller than Killer Whale Dots in the water - ha!
...the last I heard they were headed southwest-ish...

...late in the day I heard that there were lots of transients headed in and they were near Victoria...

...that night at 11:52PM I was awakened by some calls...it was strange...the calls - or one call maybe - was repeated several times and then nothing...similar to Ts...but it wasn't the sound of any of the standard T calls I've head before...but I do remember hearing a family group of Ts who had some of their own distinct calls, so I figured it could have been some I hadn't heard before...

Thursday
...so I went to sleep thinking that we might have some more Transients in the area...but it was raining...and a lot...in the morning so I opted to listen to the hydrophones and stay dry...
... at 7:39 a.m. I thought I heard a 'squeak'...'ah, so the Rezzies came back."...hum...but I didn't hear anything else...and it was still raining...

...finally the rain stopped and it was clear enough...so off I went...and what I found totally amazed me...but what else is new!
...I didn't even have to scan...there they were, whales coming up island - yikes...headed toward the park...but then they began to mill...they were quite a ways out...that's not the amazing part...the amazing part is that for the next two hours I watched as whales slowly came down from the NORTH...of course some were letting the current carry them back north a short distance so I got to see them several times...

...they were close to a 1/2 mile or more from shore...at least this time the Killer Whale Dots were seeable...lots of Js, Ks and some Ls...
...I guess I really did hear them at 7:39 in the morning!...in the rain...half foggy out there...no one saw them before they were coming back down...
...baby K-44 with grandma Skagit K-13...and mom Deadhead K-27 up ahead......and two tails......out on Maya's Westside Charters in the afternoon...the whales were heading away from us...and once again...really spread out...
...we saw the J22s as they were heading the same direction we were...both of us catching up to the rest of them...
...Mike J-26, Racer L-72, Fluke L-105, Tahlequah J-35, Notch J-47 and Solstice L-89 were socializing.........hum...calendar marking time again???...maybe not yet...that's actually one of the big boys and a little boy, Fluke!
...Solstice, as with most of the whales, can look very different from different angles...check this out...he looks really twisted from this angle......reminds me a bit of Ruffles...especially at the base of his fin...

...at one point Mike, Racer and Fluke were in one group and Tahlequah her little guy and Solstice were off from them several hundred yards...
...they came back together...some surface 'lounging' - Tahlequah vocalized and Notch answered her back - yes! above water vocals - it was amazing...now if I didn't have so much gear all tangled up on me I might have gotten those vocals recorded...clear J signature calls....it was just too special......there were other groups in the distance...as we headed back we met Polaris J-28...and Star J-46 surfaced... ...and a few seconds later Moby J-44 surfaced too!...if both kids hadn't surfaced at the same time I might have missed them...

...and then Nigel L-95, Racer's brother, surfaced too!...Polaris and the kids were headed for Tahlequah and that group...and Nigel was heading toward another group off in the distance...

...they looked like they were heading toward Port Townsend......but then later in the evening I heard some very faint vocals...had they come back up and were going out?...or would they go down into Puget Sound?

...just please, whales, just go to where the salmon are, wherever that is now...as it's getting to be that time of year...

9-20-11 More Porpoising!!

2011-09-20T23:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 20th

...and here they came...but would they flip and go back down island again?...no!..they actually came up...and when they did, some of them porpoised their way from Deadman Bay to the point north of the park!
...getting started...Oreo J-22 and Tsuchi J-31......Blackberry J-27, DoubleStuf J-34, Tsuchi J-31 and tip of fin is Mako J-39............and here's what they sounded like when they were doing that!!...thanks to the hydrophones we can hear them...what an awesome dimension it adds...can you tell when they are right over top of the hydrophones?

...two kids came along...one was Eclipse J-41 and Saturna K-43...it looks like Eclipse (6 yrs) is 'playing house'...that's little Saturna K-43 (1 1/2 yrs)......it wasn't long before both of their moms surfaced...Shachi J-19 near, and Sequim K-12 far......of course everyone was all mixed up...at least when they passed the park...Nigel L-95 and Notch J-47...Notch's mom was there too, of course......out on Maya's Westside Charters...we went about 500 yards outside the harbor and enjoyed the whales...they were right there!...
...I had been curious about Sequim K-12...and today, up at Kellett Bluff...well there were two kids approaching...no mom with them...then up ahead I saw Sequim...we watched as she turned and headed back to get her kids!...I had seen Ballena L-90 yesterday and again today...she is traveling as she has been...I have only seen her from a distance...that's the Center for Whale Research boat with her......Baba L-26 her mom, and Crewser L-92 were up ahead of her a ways......one group that came along...Samish J-14 and all her kids, Tanya L-5, Lulu L-53, Racer L-72 and Fluke L-105...Open Bay is just off to the left...the whales were still headed up island and looked committed to going north - that's a switch!...Hy'Shqa J-37 and Racer L-72......this time it was Tanya L-5 and not Lulu who did a huge cartwheel!
...earlier on when the whales were passing by at the park I got pics of Gaia L-78, Grace L-2 and Wave Walker L-88...they were offshore in the beginning of the whales...
...and when we were watching the whales passing by at Kellett Bluff, I heard Ino L-54 and her 'flute sound' when she inhales...but I couldn't see her...the sun glare didn't help either...there is no one else in the Community who sounds that way...even Spieden J-8 who has an inhale noise, has a completely different sound...

...I saw most everyone today, or at least representatives from each family group...that is EXCEPT the L12s!...yes, they did their thing...staying back down island...

...the Pink salmon run was 17,500,000 and researchers say the whales don't eat Pinks...so if they don't eat Pinks (salmon) then there must be a bunch of something else they are eating to give them so much energy!...they have been 'full of it' lately!!

...go whales!

9-19-11 For Some It Was 'Quiet Time'

2011-09-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 19th

...I heard there were 'In Coming!' last night so I made sure I was ready when it got light out this morning...after no whales for a couple days, it was nice that they were coming back in...but only if they have enough food in here...

...as soon as it got light, off I went to sit and wait...but I didn't have to wait at all...I spotted one whale...now, where in the world were the other 87?...off in the distance...really far out...I could see something...not sure what...then someone made a big splash...then I knew...

...but the whales stayed down and offshore all morning long...

...out on Maya's Westside Charters...for all the recent days of the whales being so spread out...today was a bit different...
...there were lots of groups...and mixed up groups too...and there were kids off playing with each other and not in groups!...here are some of the groups I saw...

...Granny J-2, Onyx L-87, Spieden J-8, Tanya L-5, Nyssa L-84, Shachi J-19 and Eclipse J-41, Samish J-14, Riptide J-30, Hy'Shqa J-37, Suttles J-40 and Se-Yi-Chn J-45...
everyone doesn't surface at the same time...so here's from the left:
Nyssa, Tanya, Granny, Spieden and Onyx......another group consisted of the J22s, the J16s, the J11s, Racer L-72, Fluke L-105, and some of the J17s...I saw the others off in the distance...here's some of them......earlier on the J22s were in their own group...
...from the left: DoubleStuf J-34, Oreo J-22, Rhapsody J-32 and Cookie J-38......Skagit K-13, Spock K-20, Comet K-38, Deadhead K-27 and baby K-44 and Cali K-34...
from the left: K-44, Deadhead K-27 and Cali K-34......Scoter K-25 was traveling off from the group...also in this group was Sekiu K-22 and Tika K-33...and then Lapis L-103 surfaced next to Tika...then Nugget L-55 and that whole family began to surface...
...here's Kasatka L-82 and Finn L-116......the whales were heading in toward the island...but they stalled a mile or two from the park...they weren't in any hurry to get to anywhere special...and they turned and began going back to where they had been in the morning...

...when we came out on the afternoon trip...the whales were slowly heading back down island...Riptide J-30 and Indigo L-100......along with Nyssa L-84 were playing around...after a while Indigo went off somewhere...off several hundred yards were Riptide's family members...little brother Se-Yi-Chn J-45 came over to join the big boys!
...Se-Yi-Chn and Riptide......Nyssa......Se-Yi-Chn and Nyssa...
...at one point Riptide and Nyssa were having some fun...Nyssa coming over Riptide......Nyssa moving left and Riptide to the right......a little more......dive and let's do that again!...there was a group farther south...so we went to see them...this is so neat...I haven't ever seen this behavior for such a long time...they had already been doing this but I don't know for how long before we got there...we just sat and watched many moms and kids...Ophelia L-27 (no kids), Nugget L-55 and her four: L-82, L-103, L-109, and L-118, plus grand kid L-116...Surprise! L-86 and her two: Pooka L-106 and Sooke L-112, Marina L-47 and Mystic L-115, Moonlight L-83 and I think L-110 was there...but I don't think Muncher was there...she was probably off on a date like the other day!... for 26 minutes we watched quietly...moms were logging here and there at one point there were at least four adults logging at the same time...and the kids...well they just kept busy, 'quietly'...or at least they tried to...
...with a piece of kelp draped over......they must have been whispering to each other :)...reminds me of when little people kids are supposed to take a nap and they just can't go to sleep, so they play quietly!

....in the middle of the group Ophelia L-27 breached...just once...and the 'quiet time' continued...

...I've been asked if the whales ever just stopped...well, I guess they do!

9-16-11 All That And...

2011-09-16T23:58:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 16th

...last night the power was out in the entire county...a planned outage from 11PM to 6AM this morning...and at the end of yesterday the whales were way south...

...early morning...about to run to town to mail an important letter...I get a call - one whale at the park...oops...on my way...okay...one whale, hum...a transient?...by the time I get to the lighthouse the hydrophones just got back on line...a few calls all from one whale...they were loud and the echo clicks were too, but no whale could be seen...

...all of a sudden she surfaced with a big lunge...and then another...all before I could get the lens cap off...she was down for long dives...I clocked one dive at 4 minutes...that's very long for what we normally see...

...I could hear a faint call or two...not from this whale but from someone off in the distance...I scanned and scanned and then finally I could see one large dorsal fin coming down from the north...

...back to the one whale at the light...her calls would get faint...she was heading directly away from the lighthouse...then louder again...she was offshore facing back toward the lighthouse...
...so who was the mystery whale?.......can you figure out who she is?

...does this help, or at least tell you from which pod?...

...I keep scanning to the north...more fins in that choppy water up there...I look the other direction and there are some whales coming up from the south...very cool...looks like maybe everyone stayed around last night...

...in the middle of it all an eagle was after something...got it and then had to drop it...it sure looked like a piece of salmon - a big piece...(blurry pic, but it gives you the idea)...left overs from the whales perhaps?......whales were coming back down and were far offshore...some K pod whales and some Ls too...so which way would they all go this morning...back up?...no, of course not...not this year anyway!...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters in the late morning and down island we went too...

...the water was calm, the sky was grey so the land and water blended together...stuff that digital cameras don't like cause they can't find something to focus on...we listened to their vocals as they moved on south toward Port Angeles direction...

...the whales were spread out for miles...that big yellow boat made some contrast to make my camera happy...thanks to that big yellow boat I was able to get a few pics...Crewser L-92 and Baba L-26...then Onyx L-87 and Spieden J-8 traveling with them...
...from the left: Baba, Crewser, tip of Onyx's fin, and the big yellow boat......up ahead, in a bit closer, were Marina L-47 and 'now named' baby Mystic L-115...he sure looks spunky...and to know that he is still outliving his four previous siblings...go Mystic!...Mike J-26 and Nigel L-95 passed by us......Polaris J-28 and Star J-46 were just up ahead of them...and who came by next but the mystery whale from this morning!...
...I know people have been doing a lot of 'calendar marking' these past several days...might want to add Mike (male) and mystery whale (female) to the mix...17 months from now perhaps?...you know what I mean...

...we saw a small group of whales off in the other direction and several others behind them, coming their way...and then a whale began to porpoise...and then another joined in, and another......baby K-44 keeping right up with all those big 'guys'.........it grew to what seemed to be about six or eight... and it ended up being 13 whales...
Shachi J-19 and Eclipse J-41, Slick J-16, Mike J-26, Alki J-36, Echo J-42, Tsuchi J-31, Spock K-20 and Comet K-38, Deadhead K-27 and baby K-44, and Lea K-14 and Kelp K-42!

...that tall fin belongs to Mike J-26 (yes, he had left his lady friend and came back over to mom)...in front of him is Deadhead and baby K-44...
...Slick J-16 in the middle...
...at one point they began to slow down...Lea did a joyful looking leap......Eclipse and Kelp...three years apart in ages......Shachi and Eclipse......they put on the brakes......they logged at the surface for a few moments...maybe baby K-44 needed a break......and then they started again......coming up......up...from the left: Spock, baby K-44, Deadhead, Kelp and Lea......here's a clip...it's pretty rough...you can see why I take pictures so I can tell who actually was present...I could never get IDs off video!...

...whew...all that and that important letter got mailed too...

9-15-11 They Woke Me Up!

2011-09-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 15th

...they woke me up at 3:50 a.m.!!..on the hydrophones of course...it seems like it's been months since that has happened...and they were still around when daylight came...

...for quite a while now I've been mentioning that Hy'Shqa J-37 has been spending a lot of time with Granny J-2 and they would often be in the lead...well today, when the whales came north, guess who was in the lead?...Hy'Shqa J-37 !......her mom was behind her...then Riptide J-30...
...Shachi J-19...and a bit behind her were a couple of kids Eclipse J-41, Se-Yi-Chn J-45...they were going back and forth...after fish maybe...or just playing pretty close in to shore...

...out on Maya's Westside Charters, curious as to who all was present...
...the whales were coming up island and passing County Park......Gaia L-78 was in closer to shore...ah-ha! the L2s were here...hum, I wondered who else......then I saw Nyssa L-84, and Tanya L-5...the whales were spread from shore to a mile or more off shore...Tika K-33 and his mom, Sekiu K-22, I saw them in closer to where Gaia was...
...Samish J-14 and her family were up ahead of them...I had heard earlier that Granny J-2, Spieden J-8 and Onyx L-87 were off shore...the whales got to Kellett Bluff and some past there...they were doing what they normally do...when all of a sudden there was a 'Turn Around!'...and they do that too sometimes...they were heading straight for Discovery Island - yikes - did they get a 'phone call?'...
...as they were moving in that direction some began fishing - maybe they just got into a school of salmon......well Raggedy K-40 was after something......a short while later Mike J-26 came along...he too was after some fish......it was interesting to watch as he went after that meal...Alki J-36 was either in on the fish chasing or just on the perimeter...mom Slick J-16 and youngest Echo J-42 surfaced up ahead a short distance...we watched Slick and Echo as they waited on the surface as Mike and Alki approached, as they did Slick and Echo swung around and joined Mike and Alki, and the four of them headed on toward Discovery Island together...

...when we came back out in the afternoon, the whales were south and those who had been heading for Discovery Island seemed to move back toward San Juan Island - thank goodness...they were once again all spread out and for miles it seemed... early on we saw Crewser L-92...not far from him was Baba L-26...but today she was not traveling by his side as she has been the last couple weeks...I didn't see Ballena L-90, but that only means that I didn't see her because the whales were so very spread...

...and they were all mixed up too...Blackberry J-27 and Wave Walker L-88...Indigo L-100 and Mako J-39......so far away, but I'm pretty sure this is Mystic (yes, he has a name now) L-115......and I was surprised to see that the last few of my pictures were not only of blue sky but of Ino L-54 and baby L-117......I'm really rooting on this little one to be a female...

...at the end of the day...really - like at 11PM the power would be going off for the entire County of San Juan and won't come on until 6AM tomorrow...

...now how will I sleep without the hydrophone speaker making noise in my ear?...

9-14-11 Looking For That Something Special To Eat

2011-09-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 14th

...how about some Transients today...sounded good to me...and sure enough about a half hour later I get a call that 6 Ts were seen up in Swanson Channel...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters for a morning trip...we joined the search to see if these Ts could be located...
...the calculations were that they 'could' be pretty close...that is if they kept on coming south...but you know Ts...they could be anywhere...
...but a big fin like this shouldn't be too hard to find, eh?......"contact" ! yea! Ivan and Sarah on the Western Explorer were starting to head back in when they picked up the whales...we were only about a mile to the west and got there pronto...

...it was the T101s with big male T102... (4 whales)..here's T102 and in the picture above...he's one who looks different depending on the angle you see him...because of the way his dorsal fin hooks......and the T100s... too cool!... (5 whales)...they have two little guys and one nine year old T100C...here are the two moms and their youngest kids...that's T102 surfacing there too......T100B and her kid T100B1 who we first saw in these waters last March, but Mark said this calf was seen way up north last September...so about a year old now......the other is T100E...who was pretty much a new baby (very peachy coloring) when first seen in these waters in February, 2010......check out their eye patches...Ts eye patches are the neatest...

...only six whales were reported earlier in the day...and after watching these guys for a short while I could see why...they were splitting up, going in opposite directions...looked like they were on the hunt...some surfaced back behind us going the other way...T101A and T101B surprised us by surfacing right by the boat...that boat in the distance is the research boat...they are usually this close and we're usually out where they are......I don't know that they ever made a kill......they must have had some specialty on their mind because there were harbor seals, harbor porpoise and Dall's porpoise all over the place today...yet they zoomed on by...

...transients don't usually pass close to shore on the west side...more often they are out in the middle...and even though they weren't hugging the shore line...
...passing the County Park office......approaching the lighthouse...
...T102 passing Lime Kiln Lighthouse......and on down they went...at one point they were traveling at 8 knots...they kept on going from what we heard...
...who knows, they may be back this way tomorrow...get your cameras ready...